According to an official announcement on Wednesday, the deadline for doing so was June 5, 2014 and only Italy, Denmark, Malta and Sweden met it along with Cyprus.


Through the directive, the European Commission proposes a higher and achievable energy savings target for 2030.
“New opportunities for European businesses, affordable energy bills for consumers, increased energy security through a significant reduction of natural gas imports and a positive impact on the environment: these are some of the expected benefits of the energy efficiency target for 2030 put forward,” the Commission said. 


“The proposed target of 30 % builds on the achievements already reached: new buildings use half the energy they did in the 1980s and industry is about 19% less energy intensive than in 2001.”


The proposed target goes beyond the 25% energy savings target, which would be required to achieve a 40% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030. 


At the same time the framework on energy efficiency put forward on Thursday aims to strike the right balance between benefits and costs.


The Communication on energy efficiency and its contribution to energy security and the 2030 framework also reviews progress towards the European Union’s 20% energy efficiency target for 2020. 


The EU is currently forecast to achieve energy savings of 18%-19% in 2020; however, the agreed target of 20% can be reached if all EU countries fully implement the already agreed legislation. 


The Commission does not intend to propose new measures, but calls on the Member States to step up their efforts to ensure collective delivery of the 2020 target.

Source: InCyprus