Using energy more efficiently will contribute to reducing the EU’s overall energy consumption. The Energy Efficiency Directive is therefore a key driver of Europe’s energy transition.
Please find the European Union website on the Energy Efficiency Directive here.
Energy efficiency helps reduce overall energy consumption and is therefore central to achieving the EU’s climate ambition, while enhancing present and future energy security and affordability. To ensure that the EU’s 2030 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% (compared to 1990) can be met, the Commission has revised the Energy Efficiency Directive, together with other energy and climate rules.
The revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EU/2023/1791) significantly raises the EU’s ambition on energy efficiency.
It establishes ‘energy efficiency first’ as a fundamental principle of EU energy policy, giving it legal-standing for the first time. In practical terms, this means that energy efficiency must be considered by EU countries in all relevant policy and major investment decisions taken in the energy and non-energy sectors.
The 2023 revision of the directive follows a proposal for a recast directive on energy efficiency put forward by the Commission in July 2021, as part of the EU Green Deal package. The 2021 proposal was further enhanced as part of the REPowerEU plan, presented by the Commission in May 2022, aiming to decrease the EU’s dependency on fossil fuel imports from Russia.
Full implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive will be key for the EU to comply with the commitment of the Global Pledge to double the global rate of energy efficiency improvements from about 2% to over 4% by 2030.
The Commission has published a series of recommendations, including guidelines for EU countries related to the revised directive, to help countries transpose its different elements into national law.
– Article 3: energy efficiency first principle
– Article 4: energy efficiency targets and national contributions
– Articles 8, 9 and 10: energy saving obligations
– Article 11: energy management systems and energy audits
– Articles 21, 22 and 24: consumer related provisions
– Article 26: heating and cooling aspects
– Article 30: national energy efficiency funds, financing and technical support
The 2023 revised directive raises the EU energy efficiency target, making it binding for EU countries to collectively ensure an additional 11.7% reduction in energy consumption by 2030, compared to the projections of the EU reference scenario 2020.
As a result, overall EU energy consumption by 2030 should not exceed 992.5 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) for primary energy and 763 Mtoe for final energy.
Under the updated rules, EU countries have agreed to help achieve the EU target by setting indicative national contributions using a combination of objective criteria which reflect national circumstances (energy intensity, GDP per capita, energy savings potential and earlier efforts for energy efficiency by EU countries). The directive also includes an enhanced ‘gap-filling mechanism’ that will be triggered if countries fall behind in delivering their national contributions.
In setting these indicative national contributions, EU countries could use either the projections of the EU reference scenario 2020 or its updated version (communicated to them in December 2023).
In March 2024, the Commission communicated on corrected indicative national contributions (covering also the update of the reference scenario) to be used in the EU countries’ updated integrated national energy and climate plans (NECPs) in June 2024.
The revised directive more than doubles the annual energy savings obligation (Article 8) by 2028. This is one of the key policy instruments of the directive to meet the headline target and to drive energy savings in end-use sectors, such as buildings, industry and transport.
| 1.3% | 1.5% | 1.9% |
| 2024-2025 | 2026-2027 | 2028-2030 |
EU countries are required to achieve cumulative end-use energy savings for the entire obligation period (running from 2021 to 2030), equivalent to new annual savings of at least 0.8% of final energy consumption in 2021-2023, at least 1.3% in 2024-2025, 1.5% in 2026-2027 and 1.9% in 2028-2030.
The revised directive also puts a stronger focus on alleviating energy poverty. It aims at empowering consumers through stronger requirements for EU countries to raise awareness and provide information on energy efficiency.
It also emphasises the creation of one-stop shops, technical and financial advice and consumer protection via out-of-court mechanisms for the settlement of disputes.
Furthermore, it includes improved regulations to identify and remove barriers related to split incentives for energy efficiency renovations between tenants and owners or among multiple owners.
The changes introduced require EU countries to prioritise energy efficiency improvements for vulnerable customers, individuals affected by energy poverty and those living in social housing. To address any potential negative impacts, the revenue generated from the extension of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) to buildings and transport will be used through the Social Climate Fund . Under the energy savings obligation, each EU country is responsible for achieving a share of its energy savings among vulnerable customers and those affected by energy poverty. The criteria for determining these targets will be defined by each country, allowing flexibility for tailored solutions based on country-specific
To optimise energy savings in the industrial sector, the directive expands the scope of energy audit obligations to include all those companies, regardless of their size, which are consuming energy above a certain threshold. Therefore, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) would also have to carry out an energy audit, where there is significant energy saving potential. Meanwhile, the directive makes energy management systems a mandatory requirement for large industrial energy consumers to monitor and optimise their energy efficiency.
Additionally, under the revised directive, EU countries will need to ensure an appropriate level of competence for energy efficiency related professionals, aligning them with market needs and enforcing clearer and stricter requirements for the necessary competencies. This includes energy service providers, energy auditors, energy managers and installers.
The directive mandates EU countries to report on energy efficiency investments, including energy performance contracts, as part of the Governance Regulation, ensuring transparency and accountability. It also establishes project development assistance mechanisms at national, regional, and local levels to support energy efficiency investments and facilitate the attainment of the EU’s ambitious energy efficiency targets.
To ensure a fully decarbonised district heating and cooling supply by 2050, the definition of efficient district heating and cooling was modified in the revised Energy Efficiency Directive 2023. Minimum requirements will be gradually changed to allow for a progressive integration of renewable energy and waste heat and cold in the system.
Support to new high-efficiency cogeneration units using natural gas and connected to district heating in efficient district heating and cooling systems will only be possible until 2030, whereas any other fossil fuel use will be banned for new heat generation capacities in such systems.
EU countries will also have to promote local heating and cooling plans in large municipalities having populations above 45 000.
The revised directive introduces an obligation for the monitoring and reporting of the energy performance of data centres. A European database will collect and publish data, which is relevant for the energy performance and water footprint of data centres with a significant energy consumption.
The database is being prepared by the European Commission and will be available for the first reporting deadline of 15 September 2024.
The Delegated Regulation (EU/2024/1364) setting out the information and key performance indicators for the reporting obligation was published on 17 May 2024.
For the preparation of the delegated regulation, the Commission ordered a study that was completed at the end of 2023 on the energy performance and sustainability of data centres. Its 3 published deliverables are listed here
– Task A report – options for a reporting scheme for data centres (October 2023)
– Task B report – Labelling and minimum performance standards schemes for data centres (December 2023)
– Task C report – EU repository for the reporting obligation of data centres (December 2023)
