Legal Development
| Published date | 01 June 2013 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X1302000210 |
| Date | 01 June 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Legal Development |
20 MJ 2 (2013) 321
LEGAL DEVELOPMENT
e New EU Dire ctive on Energy E cienc y: A Critical View
Gianni Lo Schiavo*
§1. IN T RODUCT ION
Energy e ciency constitutes the third pillar of the ‘20+20+20’ initiative of 2009 aimed
at reforming climate change and energy policy by 2020 in t he European Union (EU).
Following the ‘20+20+20’ strategy, the Europe an institutions have promoted a number of
activities to foster the debate on energ y e ciency. e Commission has been considering
the importance of energy e ciency in the EU.1 It adopted the Communication ‘Energy
E ciency Plans 2011’,2 which aimed at promoting an economy that respects the planet ’s
resources, implementing a low carbon system, improving the EU’s energy independence,
and strengtheni ng security of energy supply. e adoption of the Commission’s proposal
on a Directive for energy e ciency by the Council i n October 20123 and its publication on
14November 20124 are the ultimate achievements of t he EU in the eld of energ y e ciency.
e Directive repeals two directives on energy e ciency5 and is intended to attain
the target of ‘20% primar y energy savings i n 2020’.6 ‘Increased dependence on energy
imports and scarce energy resources, and the need to limit climate cha nge and to
overcome the economic crisis’8 are the main reasons that suggest there should be t he
introduction of a new instr ument to increase energy e ciency.
A er brie y rec alling the main aspe cts of energy e ciency in EU la w, this a rtic le wil l
analyse the most i mportant developments contained in the Direct ive, taking thei r impact
* Ph.D. candidate, K ing’s College, London.
1 Commission Com munication 20–20 by 2 020 – Europe’s climate cha nge opportunit y, COM (2008) 30 nal.
2 See the speech Comm issioner Oe ttinger welc omes nal adoption of Energy E ciency Directive,
IP/12/1069, 4October 2012.
3 Directive 2012/27/EU of the Europe an Parliament a nd the Counci l of 25 October 2012 on energy
e ciency, amendi ng Directives 200 9/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and repealin g Directives 200 4/8/EC and
2006/32/EC, [2012] OJ L 315/1.
4 Directive 200 4/8/EC of the Europea n Parliament and of t he Council of 11 February 2004 on the
promotion of co-generation ba sed on a useful heat dema nd in the internal energ y market, [2004] OJ L
52/50; Directive 20 06/32/EC of the European Parl iament and of the Council of 5Apr il 2006 on energy
end-use e ciency and energ y services, [2006] OJ L 114/64.
5 Directive 2012/27/EU, recital 2 .
6 Ibid., recital 1.
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