Green Paper on Energy Efficiency

Publication date: 22 June 2005

The European Commission has decided to relaunch the initiative on saving energy by publishing a new Green Paper today. It analyses the situation and draws up a whole series of actions to be discussed and commented on.

The Commission sees a considerable potential for saving energy: the EU could reduce consumption by 20% by 2020, corresponding to a saving of 60 billion euros a year. The Commission reckons that an average household can easily save an amount ranging between 200 and 1000 euros a year according to its consumption level. Saving 20% of energy consumption would secure 50% of the necessary reductions of CO2 emissions, strengthen the competitiveness of the European economy and facilitate the creation of one million jobs in Europe.

According to the Commission 10% savings could be carried out by fully implementing the measures already set out in the building, domestic appliances, heat production and transport sectors. To save the remaining 10%, new measures would be needed.

Road transport is concerned by the following proposals:
- Introduce beneficial tax systems to promote the purchase of more economical vehicles using clean fuel;
- Open public procurement to clean vehicles;
- Limit fuel consumption of vehicles and prompt the car industry to increase further the energy performance of cars;
- Improve traffic management with the help of the multiple applications and services that will be available under GALILEO;
- Prompt the car industry to improve tyres’ efficiency and the consumers to check their pressure level;
- Finance research and demonstration projects on alternative fuels;
- Introduce urban road charging or bans on circulating to restrict the access to city centres of cars which pollute and use a lot of fuel;
- Promote public transport.

On the subject of infrastructure charging the Commission recalls the experience of London. Since introducing “congestion charging” in 2003, fuel consumption has gone down by 20% in the charging zone. The city of Madrid has installed a system for rapid transit for buses and cars with a minimum of two passengers on a motorway section of 20 km. The Commission wants to promote these best practices on a larger scale. On the subject of tyres’ pressure the Commission considers developing systems to encourage service stations better to inform and assist drivers as regards tyre checks as well as a voluntary agreement with industry to install tyre pressure sensors in cars.

The Green Paper has opened the debate on measures to be put in place to save energy in the European Union. In 2006, at the end of the consultation process launched at the same time as the Green Paper, the Commission will present a full action plan listing all the proposed measures.

public_consultation_en.pdf (22 KB)

For more information:
- Green Paper on Energy Efficiency (COM(2005) 265 final)
- Memo: 20% Energy savings by 2020
- Consultation

com2005_265_green_paper_energy.pdf (196 KB)

memo_energy_savings.pdf (306 KB)

public_consultation_en.pdf (22 KB)