Energy efficiency action plan

Commenting on the Energy Efficiency Action Plan, proposed by the European Commission today, Green MEP and energy spokesperson Claude Turmes stated:

"Energy efficiency must be placed at the heart of EU energy policy if we are to have any chance of addressing Europe's energy crisis and we welcome that the Commission has recognised this in the Energy Efficiency Action Plan. The proposed target for energy saving of 20% by 2020 is a step in the right direction but it is the bare minimum that needs to be done and as such must not be watered down.

"The Action Plan sets out a clear agenda for concrete measures in different sectors, however the transport sector has once again been largely white-washed. With 96% of energy used in the transport sector coming from oil, transport should be a central plan of any EU drive for energy efficiency. It is therefore disappointing that more comprehensive concrete measures, like an early review of the Eurovignette system or the internalisation of all external costs of all transport modes, were not included in the action plan.

"Energy efficiency must also be a focus of EU external relations policy. In Russia, for example, energy inefficiency in buildings accounts for the same proportion of energy as Russia's total gas exports to the EU. Energy efficiency clearly has a central role to play in the EU's external energy policy and EU leaders should recognise this at their summit in Lahti on Friday."