DRAFT PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ENERGY PERFORMANCE OF BUILDINGS DIRECTIVE

The main focus of the draft Resolution is the Long-term Renovation Strategies that member states have to submit to the Commission under the EPBD, noting “a deep trend of late submissions and incomplete or uncompliant strategies since 2014” [when it began] and taking stock of the fact that many member states seem to view LTRSs as a formal obligation, a bureaucratic chore, rather than a real strategic tool. The Rapporteur puts his finger on a real problem with LTRSs:

“Beyond this, the objectives of the LTRS (described in EPBD Article 2a) are now misaligned with the EU’s strengthened 2030 Climate Target and 2050 climate-neutrality objective. There is therefore a risk that the policies and measures planned under the LTRSs are unlikely to significantly accelerate the rate and depths of renovation as necessary ...” (bottom p. 8)

Consequently, the draft Resolution stresses that, along with the EPBD, “detailed LTRSs, should be a driving force to increase the scale and speed of the renovation of the EU’s building stock through new innovative policy measures” (2. p. 11)

Which is wishful thinking given the European Commission’s intrinsic lack of muscle to enforce the LTRSs, paradoxically well documented in the draft Resolution:

“While Member States must adopt LTRSs, there is no legal obligation on them to implement them and the Commission can therefore only assess them but not control their effectiveness.” (p. 4, end of par. 6)

Full EPF Secretariat report under epf21-65 of 27.07.2021