Main Page     I. The Administrative Framework     II. European Environmental Policy
III. Directives Implementing the EU Environmental Policy
IV. Chart of the Directives and Enforcement Dates

Energy Demand

The European Community, together with its Member States, is working intensively to improve energy efficiency in all end-use sectors while at the same time increasing the use of renewable energies. Two important communications setting out the strategy for energy efficiency were adopted in 2000: the Action Plan for Energy Efficiency and the European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) . The Action Plan serves as umbrella document outlining programs of Community legislative and non-legislative actions on energy efficiency. Many measures have been launched and put in place such as Directives and other policy measures. The ECCP was established to identify, analyze, evaluate and to recommend least-cost measures in all supply and end-use sectors for the EU to meet its Kyoto target.

In the following sections, you will find the programs that could affect your business:

1. Combined Heat and Power
2. Efficiency in Buildings
3. Efficiency in Energy Using Products
    3.1 The EUP
    3.2 Eco-design
    3.3 Domestic Appliances
    3.4 Office Equipment

Apart from the user's behavior, there are two complementary ways of reducing the energy consumed by products: labeling to raise awareness of consumers on the real energy use in order to influence their buying decisions (such as labeling schemes for domestic appliances), and energy efficiency requirements imposed to products from the early stage on the design phase. Eco-design aims to improve the environmental performance of products throughout the life cycle by systematic integration of environmental aspects at very early stage in the product design.

The Commission has therefore proposed a Framework Directive on establishing a framework of setting Eco-design requirements (such as energy efficiency requirements) for all energy using products in the residential, tertiary and industrial sectors. Coherent EU-wide rules for eco-design will ensure that disp arities among national regulations do not become obstacles to intra-EU trade. The proposal does not introduce directly binding requirements for specific products, but does define conditions and criteria for setting requirements regarding environmentally relevant product characteristics (such as energy consumption) and allows them to be improved quickly and efficiently. Implementing measures that will establish the eco-design requirements will follow it. In principle, the Directive will apply to all energy using products and cover all energy sources.