Brussels,

EU strategy for heating and cooling

In February 2016, the EU Commission published the EU Heating and Cooling Strategy as a first step in exploring the issues and challenges in this sector, and solving them with EU energy policies. 

In line with proposed solutions in the Strategy, the Commission initiated a series of roundtables for the representatives of the industry, over the course of 2018-2019, to discuss the barriers in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

By the end of 2020, the Member States should submit to the EU Commission their assessment on a comprehensive assessment on efficient heating and cooling. This is asked by art. 14 of the  Energy Efficiency Directive (12/27/EU).

​The revised Annex VIII to this Directive (Delegated Regulation 2019/826/EU) describes the methodology for the assessments. Notably, the assessments have to comply with legislation on the energy union, and they must be closely linked with planning of policy measures to the Regulation on the Governance of the energy union and climate action (Regulation EU/2018/1999).

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Based on the input from the roundtables and the analysis of barriers, drivers and best practice policies, recommendations for EU-level policy interventions were proposed and published in the study “Shaping a sustainable industry: Guidance for best practices and policy recommendations”. ​

Share of fuels in the final energy consumption in the residential sector by type of end-use, EU-28, 2017

Energy consumption in households, EU-28, 2017

Directive 2012/27/EU, together with its amendment, aims to adapt EU energy law in line with the 2030 energy efficiency and climate goals and contribute towards the Energy Union strategy to:

• reduce the EU’s dependence on imported energy;
• cut emissions;
• drive jobs and growth;
• strengthen consumer rights; and
• alleviate energy poverty.

Directive 2012/27/EU aimed to improve energy efficiency by 20% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels and included a requirement for all EU countries to set national energy efficiency targets to achieve this. It promotes energy efficiency* across the EU through a common framework of measures covering every stage of the energy chain, from generation to distribution and final consumption.

The Commission delegated Regulation of 4 March 2019 amends that Directive, Annex VIII, by introducing new targets, identification of installation that generate waste heat or cold and the assessment method by member States in reporting their measures.

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