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COUNCIL OF

THE EUROPEAN UNION

Brussels, 29 March 2012

Interinstitutional File:

2011/0172 (COD)

7659/12

LIMITE

ENER 94

ENV 206

TRANS 81

ECOFIN 259

RECH 88

CODEC 662

NOTE

from: General Secretariat of the Council

to: Permanent Representatives Committee

No. Cion prop.: 12046/12 ENER 256 ENV 582 TRANS 201 ECOFIN 454 RECH 252

CODEC 1102

Subject: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on energy

efficiency and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC

- Preparation of the first informal trilogue

1. On 22 February and 14 March 2012, Coreper discussed a number of key issues on the

proposed Energy Efficiency Directive, notably on Articles 3, 4, 5, and 6. On 2 March, the

Presidency presented a three-column document (7127/12 +ADD 1) which was discussed by

the Working Party on Energy at its meetings on 6 and 13 March. On 15 and 21 March, the

Working Party carried out a first examination of the draft amendments as voted by the

European Parliament's ITRE Committee on 28 February. Finally, at its meeting on 27 March,

the Working Party considered possible approaches suggested by the Presidency in relation to

Articles 3 and 4.

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2. Based on Coreper's guidance and delegations' views, and thus responding to calls for greater

flexibility and less prescriptive provisions, the Presidency has significantly revised its

proposals for a provisional Council position, which are found in the third column of 7659/12

ADD 1 and ADD 2.1 To only name two key Articles on which the Presidency has responded

to requests by delegations, changes have been introduced

in Article 6 such as in relation to an incremental pace of the 1.5% savings target, the

treatment of industries covered by ETS, earlier consideration of otherwise unrecorded

actions, greater possibility to count measures on generation, distribution and

transmission, and the possibility of statistical transfers. Annex V has been further

lightened;

in Article 10, the text clarifies the relationship between the comprehensive assessment

for CHP/DHC potentials and any further obligations and it removes elements that could

have been seen as an investment obligation. Annex VIIIbis is also significantly

simplified.

As regards the new suggestions, the Presidency has been fully committed to including

approaches on key Articles on which broadest possible support has emerged. On that basis,

the Presidency believes that, while it is understood that on a number of issues more work will

be necessary to refine Council's "preliminary" position in the full meaning of this word, the

views of Member States have converged to an extent representative of the desired general

direction for the proposal which would justify the start of the negotiating process with the

Parliament. In any case, the Council's position will need to be reviewed once first reactions

are available from the Parliament's side.

1 Note: the 4-column text in 7659/12 ADD 1 and 2 contains the Commission proposal, the

ITRE opinion, and the revised Presidency suggestions. ADD 1 comprises the preamble and

articles, ADD 2 the annexes of the proposal. The fourth column contains general indications

on first orientations in relation to the ITRE opinion as they emerged from the discussions.

Changes as compared to the Commission proposal are in bold; deletions are reflected by […].

Underlining in bold indicates new changes to the Commission proposal and […] deletion,

compared to the third column in 7127/12 + ADD 1.

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3. It is appropriate to note in this regard what appears as key principles on which broad

agreement exists, such as:

In accordance with the expectation of the European Council, the Directive needs to

provide both the necessary level of ambition and flexibility for Member States to

engage in the most cost-efficient measures.

The Directive needs to make a significant contribution to reaching the EU's 2020 20%

energy efficiency target, which can be expressed in primary and final energy

consumption. Member States should be able to express indicative national targets in

primary or final energy consumption or savings, or energy intensity. National energy

efficiency targets are set at national level, but assessed at EU level on the basis of

common principles.

The measures retained under the Directive should be measurable and verifiable, hence

the need for suitable methodology(ies).

With a view to the exemplary role to be played by the public sector, a specific target for

public buildings, subject to the scope being focused on a suitably defined "central

government" concept, can be envisaged, together with the possibility for Member States

to take alternative measures that can be assessed as equivalent. Provisions on public

procurement should also support this role, without being over-prescriptive.

A binding end-use energy saving target under energy efficiency obligation schemes or

alternative policy measures requires a suitable methodology to assess the equivalence of

measures, while creating legal certainty and avoiding unnecessary administrative

burdens. There need to be provisions to account for otherwise "unrecorded" actions,

improvements of energy efficiency in generation, transmission and distribution, and to

take into account the risk of carbon leakage.

A voluntary option to engage in statistical transfers, and the possibilities for

contributing to a national energy efficiency fund under the provisions on end-use energy

savings and public buildings should be part of the policy tools made available to

Member States.

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It being understood that this should not imply new financial instruments at EU level,

consideration can be given to financial mechanisms more generally, addressing the

better use of existing ones or the possibility to establish more accessible financial

instruments at national level.

There should be cost-efficient provisions on consumer information/participation,

provisions on energy audits commensurate with their expected benefits, and provisions

on certification and training. Metering and billing provisions should be consistent with

the third internal energy market legislation.

The same argument of cost-efficiency, not only from the point of view of the energy

system, but also of the achievement of climate change, security of supply, and

competitiveness objectives suggests that the promotion of CHP/DHC1 should be subject

to the outcome of a cost-benefit analysis and does not create counterproductive effects

on the development of energy from renewable sources.

While acknowledging that the Directive will impact on and reinforce action in other

policy areas (e.g. renewables or climate change), related EU instruments should not be

amended via this Directive.

Monitoring and reporting obligations should be kept to the necessary minimum to

achieve the objectives of the Directive, while building as much as possible on existing

frameworks (such as National Energy Efficiency Action Plans).

4. On the basis of the above mentioned principles and the Presidency suggestions for a

preliminary Council position found in the third column of 7659/12 ADD 1 and ADD 2, the

Presidency seeks the Committee's agreement to start the negotiations with the European

Parliament with the aim of reaching a first-reading agreement in accordance with the repeated

request of the European Council.

1 Combined Heat and Power/District Heating and Cooling.

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5. The first informal trilogue is scheduled for 11 April in Brussels. At this meeting, and taking

the aforementioned into account, the Presidency intends to present and explain to the

Parliament side the Council's general preliminary position on the Energy Efficiency Directive,

and in particular the main principles described in point 3 above, around which a possible

compromise on the proposal could be built.

6. Coreper is invited to grant the Presidency a first mandate to start the negotiations with the

Parliament on that basis.

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