Energy efficiency

SUMMARY OF:

Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency

Directive (EU) 2018/2002 amending Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DIRECTIVE?

Directive 2012/27/EU, together with its amendment, aims to adapt EU energy law in line with the 2030 energy efficiency and climate goals and contribute towards the Energy Union strategy to:

reduce the EU’s dependence on imported energy;
cut emissions;
drive jobs and growth;
strengthen consumer rights; and
alleviate energy poverty.

KEY POINTS

Directive 2012/27/EU aimed to improve energy efficiency by 20% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels and included a requirement for all EU countries to set national energy efficiency targets to achieve this. It promotes energy efficiency* across the EU through a common framework of measures covering every stage of the energy chain, from generation to distribution and final consumption.

This directive, as revised by Directive (EU) 2018/2002, along with the revised Renewable Energy directive and a new Governance Regulation are part of the Clean Energy for All Europeans package.

The main amendments to the 2012 directive include:

meeting a 32.5% energy efficiency target by 2030 and anticipating further improvements after that;
removing barriers in the energy market that obstruct efficiency in the supply and use of energy;
EU countries to set their own national contributions for 2020 and 2030;
from 2020, EU countries will require utility companies to help their consumers use 0.8% less energy each year (for Malta and Cyprus 0.24%), which will attract private investment and support new competitors in the market;
clearer rules on energy metering and billing, strengthening consumer rights, in particular for people living in multi-apartment buildings;
EU countries must have transparent, publicly available national rules on the allocation of the cost of heating, cooling and hot water services in multi-apartment and multi-purpose buildings where these services are shared;
strengthening social aspects of energy efficiency by taking energy poverty into account in designing energy efficiency schemes and alternative measures.

FROM WHEN DOES THE DIRECTIVE APPLY?

Directive 2012/27/EU has applied since 4 December 2012 and had to become law in the EU countries by 5 June 2014.

Directive (EU) 2018/2002 has applied since 24 December 2018 and mostly has to become law in the EU countries by 25 June 2020. This is the case except for certain amended rules for which the deadline is 25 October 2020. These concern:

metering for gas and electricity;
metering for heating, cooling and domestic hot water;
sub-metering and cost allocation for heating, cooling and domestic hot water;
remote reading requirement;
billing information for gas and electricity;
billing and consumption information for heating, cooling and domestic hot water;
costs of access to metering and billing information for electricity and gas;
cost of access to metering and billing and consumption information for heating, cooling and domestic hot water;
minimum requirements for billing and billing information based on actual consumption of electricity and gas (in Annex VII); and
new Annex VIIa on minimum requirements for billing and consumption information for heating, cooling and domestic hot water.

BACKGROUND

For more information, see:

Energy efficiency — Saving energy, saving money (European Commission).

KEY TERMS

Energy efficiency: the ratio of performance, services, goods or energy produced, for the amount of energy used.

MAIN DOCUMENTS

Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency, amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC (OJ L 315, 14.11.2012, pp. 1-56)

Successive amendments to Directive 2012/27/EU have been incorporated into the original document. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

Directive (EU) 2018/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 amending Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency (OJ L 328, 21.12.2018, pp. 210-230)