In the context of the 12-week public consultation that was launched in March 2021, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER) is organising a series of five Stakeholder Workshops, aiming to gather views on various EPBD related issues.
The first workshop took place at the end of March and discussed how the EU could set a vision for buildings and a decarbonised building stock. The second workshop was held mid-April, where stakeholders discussed minimum energy performance standards for existing buildings, and was followed by a third meeting at the end of April that addressed the need to strengthen buildings information tools – with a focus on energy performance certificates.
Last week, the fourth workshop took place, with stakeholders expressing their views on the ways to foster the green and digital transitions, a debate that encompassed a wide spectrum of policy and regulatory tools. More specifically, issues such as smart ready buildings as an enabler to improve energy performance/decarbonisation and empower citizens, Building Renovation Passports and digitalization, e-mobility and energy flexibility fostered by building codes, but also data gathering and management were among the issues that stakeholders were invited to provide insights on.
EBC welcomes the initiative of DG ENER to offer relevant stakeholders an additional channel to provide feedback on key aspects of the revision and thus participates in the workshops. With regard to those that already took place, EBC highlighted in particular that additional obligations to increase renovation rates, such as minimum mandatory energy performance standards, may also lead to lock-in effects, e.g., by driving property owners without the financial means to renovate their buildings into debt problems. Therefore, the establishment of a proper support framework is essential before introducing additional requirements. The last workshop of the series will take place on 3 June, and will address the issue of accessible and affordable financing.
As a reminder, all stakeholders can provide feedback to the online public consultation on the EPBD by 22 June 2021. The feedback from this consultation and from the workshops will feed into the Commission’s preparation of legislative proposals for revising the EPBD directive, which is expected to be published towards the end of the year. EBC is currently preparing its response to the consultation and will continue to participate actively in the discussions on the matter.
 | To access the European Commission public consultation on the revision of the EPBD, click here |