Energy Efficiency Directive has been published in the EU Official Journal. «The new directive – APPLiA Europe explains – introduces a series of measures to help accelerate energy efficiency, including the “energy efficiency first” principle in the energy and non-energy policies. The potential energy savings that can be reached by broadening energy access, are substantial».
Paolo Falcioni, APPLiA Director General, commented the new Directive saying that «public policies promoting the replacement of old and inefficient home appliances by highly energy efficient ones would not only help national authorities reach their targets, but also increase the overall welfare of EU citizens. This is also the case for appliances with smart functionalities as well as highly efficient appliances, overall delivering significant reductions in energy bills, creating the conditions for an increased penetration rate of dishwashers, and home appliances more in general, ultimately addressing the primary issue of energy poverty».
APPLiA also excplains that «energy poverty is affecting 90 million households in Europe. About 55% of households in Europe cannot afford to buy a dishwasher. This makes it essential to apply the new energy efficiency first guidelines at all levels, from local to European. Reducing the overall burden of the energy transition and fighting against energy poverty are two core concepts at the heart of the EU’s ‘energy efficiency first’ principle, one of the pillars of the EU decarbonisation strategy. Traditionally conceived as a guiding tool for the design of energy-related policies in the EU, “the newly introduced principle will serve as a key leverage to remove existing market and regulatory barriers to energy efficiency and ultimately unleash the full potential of the energy transition,” pointed Falcioni. In a nutshell, the less energy demand via increased energy efficiency, the less CO2 that would need to be abated by policy measures. This is a revolutionary shift in the run to climate neutrality, putting demand on equal footing with supply when defining future energy regulations».
