Last night, a final agreement on the revision of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) was reached in the trilogue between the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the European Commission. In revising the EED, the European Union has created a clear set of rules that includes targets and measures to cut the EU’s energy consumption in the period up to 2030.

Sven Giegold, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, said: "The successful completion of the trilogue on the revision of the EED is an important signal: the EU will further intensify its efforts to reduce its energy consumption and improve its energy efficiency. This is the right response to the energy crisis, which has shown us that energy is a scarce and valuable asset which must be used sparingly and efficiently."

According to the agreement, the EU’s energy consumption is to be reduced by 11.7% by 2030 compared with a reference scenario. In addition, uniform criteria for the Member States to calculate the national contributions to attain this EU target have been specified for the first time. The binding obligation to save energy has been increased to an average 1.5% annually, with the Member States still having the right to decide for themselves what energy saving measures to take.

Furthermore, the revised EED creates uniform EU requirements in the form of specific reduction targets for the public sector, an obligation to make use of an energy management system for companies with high energy consumption, and more stringent requirements in terms of efficient heat supply.

The amendment of the EED is a key component of the energy policy in the EU’s Fit for 55 package. This package creates the preconditions for the reduction of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. The German Federal Government has actively supported the agreement on the revised EED and is working to rapidly complete the remaining elements of the package.