As part of its ongoing Brexit preparedness work, the European Commission has today adopted a Decision to amend the EU's energy efficiency legislation to take account of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.
The energy consumption figures outlined in the revised Energy Efficiency Directive and the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union are based on EU28 figures. As the UK has decided to withdraw from the EU, it is necessary to lower these consumption figures to reflect a Union of 27 Member States.
This amendment does not affect in any way the June 2018 political agreement on the EU's energy efficiency targets. The EU remains committed to its energy efficiency target for 2030 of at least 32.5%.
Background
On 29 March 2017 the United Kingdom notified the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the European Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This means that, unless a ratified withdrawal agreement establishes another date, all Union primary and secondary law will cease to apply to the United Kingdom from 30 March 2019, 00:00h (CET). The United Kingdom will then become a 'third country'.
This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and shall apply from the day following that on which Union law ceases to apply to the United Kingdom.
The Energy Efficiency Directive requires Member States to set indicative national energy efficiency contributions towards the Union's energy efficiency target of at least 32.5% for 2030. In so doing, the Member States need to take into account the Union's 2030 energy consumption projections. The Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union also requires Member States to take into account the 2030 energy consumption when setting their contribution towards the Union 2030 target. As the Governance Regulation repeats the absolute values in the Energy Efficiency Directive, those values need to be amended accordingly.
EU28 projections show that primary energy consumption in 2030 should be no more than 1,273 Mtoe (“Million tonnes of oil equivalent”) and final energy consumption should be no more than 956 Mtoe. The equivalent projections for the EU27, excluding the United Kingdom, show that primary energy consumption should be no more than 1,128 Mtoe and final energy consumption should be no more than 846 Mtoe in 2030.
For More Information
Text of the Decision
Preparedness notes in the field of Energy
For more information, please see webpage.
