Feedback Loop Report

FEEDBACK LOOP REPORT Progress in energy efficiency policies in the EU Member States Findings from the Energy Efficiency Watch 3 Project 2016 Stefan Thomas, Felix Suerkemper, Thomas Adisorn, Dorothea Hauptstock, Carolin Schäfer-Sparenberg, Lena Tholen, Florin Vondung (Wuppertal Institut) Daniel Becker, Lucie Tesniere, Sonja Förster (Ecofys) Christiane Egger (OÖ Energiesparverband) Jan Geiss, Roxane Roth, Lucia Bayer (Eufores) Peter Schilken, Kristina Dely (Energy Cities) Dominique Bourges (Fedarene) Nils Borg (eceee) Energy Efficiency Watch 3 – Feedback Loop Report Disclaimer: The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EASME nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. Energy Efficiency Watch 3 – Feedback Loop Report ii Executive Summary The core objective of Energy Efficiency Watch 3 (EEW3) is to establish a constant feedback loop on the implementation of European and national energy efficiency policies and thus enable both compliance monitoring and mutual learning on effective policy making across the EU. The project team applied a mixed-method approach to assess energy efficiency policy developments in EU Member States. EEW3 analysed the progress made in the implementation of energy efficiency policies in European Member States since the publication of the second National Energy Efficiency Action Plans (NEEAPs) in 2011 by screening official documents, sought experts’ knowledge via an EU-wide survey and has been creating new consultation platforms with a wide spectrum of stakeholders including parliamentarians, regions, cities and business stakeholders. Results are presented in Country Reports for each of the 28 Member States, the Expert Survey Report, 10 Case Studies presenting outstanding energy efficiency policies in Europe, the Key Policy Conclusions, the project summary report in brochure format and this Feedback Loop Report, which summarises the overall EEW3 portfolio. One key activity of EEW3 was a screening of the NEEAPs of 2011 and 2014 and other relevant documents (e.g. communications by Member States on the implementation of important articles of the Energy Efficiency Directive) as well as the ODYSSEE-MURE database. Key findings can be summarised as follows: • There are more new and improved than abandoned or weakened policies since 2011. This indicates a clear positive impact of EU policies, especially the Energy Efficiency Directive and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. However, it is unclear whether this improvement in policy implementation will be enough to achieve the energy efficiency or savings targets of Art. 7 and Art. 3 of the Energy Efficiency Directive. • The analysis confirmed the well-known fact that Energy Efficiency Obligation schemes take time to implement and increase to levels required to meet the 1.5 % energy savings target per year of Art. 7. • Alternative measures to meet the 1.5% target and in general, all policy implementation appear to suffer from a lack of funding and staff resources. The document analysis presents little evidence on what could be the reason for this. It may be that energy efficiency policy is still seen by many policy-makers as a burden “imposed by Brussels”, instead of the investment that it actually is, yielding the benefits. It may also be that the debt crisis of the years since 2008 has affected budgets for energy efficiency policies in some Member States, and the financial stability pact may have had the same effect in others. Another central element of the EEW3 project was an extensive survey on the implementation results of the second NEEAPs in the 28 Member States. The aim of the survey was to learn from stakeholders and experts how they see the progress of energy efficiency policies and their implementation. In total, more than 1,100 experts Energy Efficiency Watch 3 – Feedback Loop Report iii from all 28 EU Member States completed questionnaires and interviews (3 experts were interviewed in each Member State). As a part of the survey, questions were asked about the energy efficiency policy instruments mentioned in the Directive on Energy End-use Efficiency and Energy Services and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. One aspect was the perception of the effectiveness of these instruments. Overall, energy efficiency requirements for new and renovated buildings and labelling of products are the instruments with the highest positive impact perceived. Between 87% and 78% of the experts agree that they are at least partly effective. On the other end of the spectrum, more than a third of the experts considers the inspection of heating and air-conditioning systems as not effective. This shows that some of the long established regulatory instruments in the building sector are seen as the most effective policy instruments. Even though the overall effectiveness of energy efficiency policies is high, experts were also asked in which sector they see the most important gap in the energy efficiency policies in their respective country. On average across EU countries, transport ranks lowest (38%), followed by the residential sector with 21%. There are however significant differences across countries. By far the largest gap is found in the transport sector in Denmark and in Austria. In both countries, 73% see energy efficiency in transport as the most important policy gap. Also, large gaps in the residential sector are reported from Hungary (60%) and Bulgaria (54%). In a number of countries, the percentage for the residential sector as the weakest sector in energy efficiency policies has decreased. When asked which policy measures the energy efficiency experts would like to see at EU level, the two most popular measures were “a large European energy efficiency fund (giving both grants and loans)” and “stricter minimum standards for buildings and appliances”. To learn from the very effective policy instruments and to close the remaining gaps, EEW3 has identified 10 case studies of good practice examples of energy efficiency polices in Europe that have significantly contributed to energy savings, due to their proven policy practices and innovative approaches (see table below). They may provide inspiration for the development of new innovative and ambitious policies and may trigger the transfer of similar policies to other countries. Energy Efficiency Watch 3 – Feedback Loop Report iv The EEW3 Case Studies of Good Practice Policies Case study ‘Sector’ Type of policy The Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme in Governance Energy efficiency obligation Denmark framework scheme The Energy Manager Obligation and White Governance Energy efficiency obligation Certificate Scheme in Italy framework AND scheme AND Regulation industry The Sustainable Public Procurement Public sector Public procurement Programme in the Netherlands The Danish Building Code Residential - Minimum energy performance Buildings standards The KfW Programme for energy efficiency in Residential - Grants AND financing buildings in Germany Buildings instruments Energiesprong (Energy Leap) in the Residential - Demonstration projects AND Netherlands Buildings information The Nordic Market Surveillance on Eco- Residential - Minimum energy performance Design and Energy Labelling Directive Appliances standards (Nordsyn) The Slovak Energy Efficiency and Industry, Tertiary, Economic incentives for Renewable Energy Finance Facility Agriculture AND investment (SlovSEFF) Residential - Buildings The Irish Large Industry Energy Network Industry Support for advice and audits The Car Registration Tax in Latvia Transport Economic incentives Within the EEW3 project, feedback from business stakeholders on EU energy efficiency policies and their impact on the business community was gathered in five workshops that took place in Denmark, Germany, Croatia, Italy and Poland. The specific recommendations from the business community can be summarised as follows: • A harmonised market and long-term strategy across Europe should be created; • The transposition of EU Directives into national legislation needs to be improved; • Information at both EU and consumer level needs to be improved; • Access to financial instruments should be facilitated and support for small and medium-sized actors increased. In line with project findings, the EEW consortium provides key policy conclusions that include both general recommendations applying to all directives as well as specific recommendations for the imminent review of the four major EU directives on energy efficiency - EED, EPBD, Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Directives. The following general recommendations on how effective policies can be facilitated have been derived: • Develop positive European and national narratives on energy efficiency: So far, EU directives have not been able to create a common understanding of the multiple benefits of energy efficiency for all EU Member States and the variety of their citizens, companies, and public authorities. Experience from various Energy Efficiency Watch 3 – Feedback Loop Report v Member States shows that the added value of energy efficiency needs to be explained and communicated by national governments in order to implement successful policies and create broad acceptance and subsequent political majorities in favour of energy efficiency. • Better communication and higher effectiveness of energy efficiency policies: There is a need to put more focus

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