EU to states: 'Forge ahead with green homes'

Brussels – Forge ahead with ‘green’ houses. The European Commission is not giving up and is raising the bar. The State of the Energy Union Report insists on a crucial point that is also sore in certain countries, starting with Italy. “Energy efficiency efforts will need a further step up to achieve the 11.7% final energy consumption reduction target by 2030,” the EU executive notes in the document.

To date, the assessment conducted on the updated drafts of the National Energy and Climate Plans (NEPCs) indicates a reduction of only 5.8 percent compared to 2030 projections. We are late. Thus, in practice, “ renovation rates and electrification of heating equipment across the board remain too low and national measures are insufficient to reach a decarbonized building stock by 2050, for which a swift implementation of the revised directive for the energy performance of building will be absolutely key.”

It is a clear recommendation that applies especially to those governments that, like Italy, continue to have doubts and misgivings on the issue of sustainable housing. Green Deal Commissioner Maros Sefcovic says it is a question of bills. Green Deal Commissioner Maros Sefcovic says it is a question of bills. “We should swiftly implement the new policy and regulatory framework to address the elevated energy prices,” he stresses.

Regarding prices and setbacks for households, in the chapter on Italy, there is a passage that is just as delicate as controversial. The European Commission points out that in 2023, 4.1 percent of the population had difficulty paying their bills, while 9.5 percent could not keep their homes adequately heated in the winter. “This underscores the importance of increasing the rate and quality of building renovation,” particularly those with the worst energy performance. It is a pity that the figure quoted touches on the issue of people who cannot cope, those at risk of poverty and social exclusion who don’t pay because they have no money. It is a problem that affects 13 million men and women in Italy alone.

If anything, the implicit political call encapsulated in the report supports interventions, which go through labor market reforms that ensure more inclusion and better pay. A task assigned to the Meloni government in the details of a survey embedded in the pages on Italy, but which in the general scope of the report applies to everyone. Just like the call to secure the industrial sector and work to revitalize it applies to all.

As Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson points out, it is true that at the European Union level, “we are no longer at the mercy of Putin’s pipelines,” given the reduction in gas demand from Gazprom. However, as one risk dissipates, new ones arise. “The European industry faces a significant challenge to its competitiveness due to rising competition from China, high energy prices differentials compared to other industrial competitors like the US, and potential strategic dependencies on clean energy technologies.”

Green Deal and economic goals are at risk. The call for even more efficient homes is also due to the eventual scenario of an EU leading in green legislation and only in that. Understandably, in Brussels, people look to the positive content of the State of the Energy Union report. There has been progress and steps forward. When it comes to sustainability, in the first half of 2024, half of the EU’s electricity production came from renewable sources, while on the security front, the amount of Russian gas has dropped from 45 percent of total needs in 2021 to 18 percent by June 2024, reducing, between August 2022 and May 2024 gas demand by 138 billion cubic meters. The EU is definitely more robust and secure, but not consolidated or secured. The call to accelerate green homes addresses this underlying concern.

English version by the Translation Service of Withub