by Brianna Crandall — August 26, 2015—A new law passed by the French Parliament setting a national energy savings goal for 2030 sends a strong signal to the European Commission (EC) that it can propose an ambitious European Union (EU) energy efficiency target for 2030, according to a news release from the Coalition for Energy Savings.
Following a wide stakeholder consultation and long debates, the French Parliament has adopted the Energy Transition law (“loi transition énergétique”) proposed by its Environment and Energy Minister Ségolène Royal. The law contains numerous measures to encourage energy savings and sets a 2030 energy savings target of reducing energy consumption by 20% compared to 2012.
This translates as a 34% efficiency improvement in the EU 2030 target language, which is close to the estimated cost-effective savings potential for France and significantly above the 27% proposed by the European Council last year, according to the Coalition.
“By going far beyond the lowest common denominator identified by the European Council last year, France encourages the European Commission to propose adequately ambitious targets for 2030—in line with the cost-effective potentials,” said Stefan Scheuer, secretary general of the Coalition for Energy Savings.
The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, had made it clear that 30% energy savings by 2030 would be the absolute minimum for him and should be made binding. As the Commission is set to propose legislative tools to realize the objectives of its Energy Union project, he will have the opportunity to propose high ambition for energy efficiency, notes the release.
As a multi-stakeholder coalition uniting 27 European business, civil society, professional, trade union and local government organizations, the Coalition for Energy Savings calls for a binding 40% energy savings target for 2030 to unlock the EU’s full cost-effective energy savings potentials and trigger investments in energy efficiency improvements which make economic sense—thus boosting the economy, significantly reducing energy imports and addressing climate concerns.
