Enforcing EU law – a key cooling strategy
BELGIUM: EPEE has identified a need to enforce existing legislation as one of four key aspects that the European Commission needs to consider in its Heating & Cooling Strategy.
Aware that heating and cooling is responsible for 50% of Europe’s total energy consumption, the EU’s proposed Heating & Cooling Strategy document is intended to enhance efficiency-driven solutions for both industry and citizens. The Heating & Cooling Strategy was a key part part of the European Commission’s Energy Union strategy announced in February.
“The future EU Heating & Cooling Strategy is of crucial importance, since it focusses on the largest energy consuming sector in Europe, namely the heating and cooling of buildings,” said EPEE director general Andrea Voigt at last week’s EPEE agm in Brussels. “As a key actor in this field, EPEE is eager to play its part in making Europe’s sustainable and secure energy system a reality.”
In addition to enforcing existing EU legislation, EPEE calls for an holistic approach to the effective use of energy, consumer awareness and investments in energy efficient solutions, and an equal focus on heating and cooling.
Special guest at the agm, Eva Hoos of the European Commission’s Energy Directorate, the person responsible for bringing together the Heating & Cooling Strategy, explained to EPEE members that the Heating & Cooling Strategy, which is due to be completed at the end of this year, was a policy document, not a regulation.
Suggesting that cooling was not fully understood by commissioners, she said: “Cooling is a new area for us,” adding that the Heating & Cooling Strategy provided “a huge opportunity to tackle cooling in an integrated way.”
The document is scheduled to be finalised from September onwards and stakeholder consultations are scheduled prior to that. On June 30, EPEE is sponsoring a stakeholder debate on the Heating & Cooling Strategy organised by PubAffairs Bruxelles.
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