EU
EUROPEAN COMMISSION: The European Commission is made up of 27 Commissioners, 1 for each Member State, and represents the interests of the EU as a whole. Every Commissioner is in charge of a Directorate-General (DG) that can be compared to a Ministry at national level. The European Commission proposes legislation in the form of Regulations and Directives and submits them to the Parliament and Council for discussion and adoption.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: The European Parliament is made up of 705 MEPs (see below) that are directly elected by EU citizens in 27 Member States.

MEP: Member of the European Parliament, a co-legislator within the EU that is made up of representatives from political parties throughout Member States. 

COUNCIL OF THE EU: Co-legislator, made up of representatives from Member State Governments. Has a six-month rotating presidency, currently held by France until the end of June 2022. 

EUROPEAN COUNCIL: The European Council is made up of the leaders of the EU member states, commonly known as EU27. It defines the EU’s overall political direction and priorities but does not pass laws.

REGULATION: EU legislative act that is binding in its entirety and is to be applied in its entirety across the EU by all EU Member States.

DIRECTIVE: EU legislative act that sets out a goal that all EU Member States must achieve. However, it is up to the EU Member States to adopt their own laws on how to achieve the EU goals enshrined in the Directive.

UK
BILL: A bill is a proposal for a new law, or a proposal to significantly change an existing law. A bill may start in either the Commons or the Lords and must pass a series of stages in each Houses. Once the bill has been agreed by both Houses, it receives Royal Assent and becomes an Act of Parliament.

HOUSE OF COMMONS: the House of Commons is the lower house and de facto primary chamber of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords (see below), it meets in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as members of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved.

HOUSE OF LORDS: The House of Lords scrutinises bills that have been approved by the House of Commons. It regularly reviews and amends Bills from the Commons. While it is unable to prevent Bills passing into law, except in certain limited circumstances, it can delay Bills and force the Commons to reconsider their decisions.

On 5 April, the European Commission published the proposal to revise the Regulation on fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases). As a reminder, F-gases currently account for 2.5 % of total GHG emissions in the EU. As a result, the F-Gas Regulation review will save the equivalent of 40 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030.

 

Annex IV (previously, Annex III) of the proposal sets out the prohibition timelines for different groups of refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat-pump equipment, including domestic and commercial refrigerators and freezers as well as any refrigeration equipment, stationary refrigeration, multipack centralized refrigeration systems for commercial use, plug-in room air-conditioning, and stationary split air-conditioning. Compared to the current F-gas Regulation, changes can be observed in items 1, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18(b)(c), 22 of the abovementioned Annex.

 

As for the next steps, the proposal will be discussed in the European Parliament and among Member States in the Council of the EU in the next months, with an agreement expected by Q3 2023. Once adopted, apply as of 1 January of the following year.

 

On 30 March, the European Commission published its long-awaited Sustainable Products Initiative (SPI), repealing and replacing the Ecodesign Directive.

 

The Regulation, which will cover all products except for food, feed and medicinal products, will establish energy performance requirements via delegated acts for product groups. It also introduces the Digital Product Passport (DPP) which will contain information on the repairability, reusability, recyclability and presence of hazardous substances of the product.

 

As for the next steps, the Commission has opened the feedback period on the SPI, that will last from 3 April to 30 May. Over the coming months, the proposal will be debated in the European Parliament and the Council. An agreement on the proposal is expected in Q3 2023 at the earliest. Nonetheless, the drafting and adoption of the Delegated Acts is expected to take additional time, with the first Delegated Acts expected to be published by the Commission in 2024. Once adopted, the proposal will enter into force 20 days following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

 

On the same day, the European Commission also published the prioritization workplan under the current Ecodesign Directive for 2022 until 2024. Of interest to ASHRAE members, the EU Executive will start drafting energy efficiency requirements for heating and cooling appliances in the next months. Once published, the draft acts will be subject to a 2-months scrutiny period in the European Parliament and Council. If none of the EU institutions object, the act will enter into force afterwards.

 

 

On 18 March, MEPs in the European Parliament’s Energy (ITRE) Committee tabled their amendments (142-314; 315-595; 596-885; 886-1190) to the draft report on the recast proposal to the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which was published on 22 February.

 

As a reminder, the EED recast proposal encompasses specific measures on efficiency district heating and cooling systems. In their amendments, MEPs propose to further strengthen requirements for efficient district heating and unlock the flexibility potential of waste heat from data centres.

 

As for the next steps, MEPs in the Energy Committee will vote on the report on 14 June. Once adopted by the European Parliament’s plenary in July, the final report will represent the Parliament’s position during the negotiations with Member States.

 

 

On 17 March, MEPs in the European Parliament’s Energy (ITRE) Committee tabled their amendments (77 – 243; 244-510; 511-705; 706-956; 957-1210; 1211-1310) to the draft report on the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), which was published on 14 February.

 

As a reminder, the Commission’s proposal on RED III introduces a 49% indicative target for renewables in buildings by 2030 and a reference to the new definition of efficient District Heating and Cooling (DHC). For their parts, MEPs in the ITRE Committee agree on the indicative target and push even further for the inclusion of renewable energy sources in buildings.

 

As for the next steps, MEPs in ITRE are set to adopt the report on 13 July. After the plenary vote due in September, the report will represent the European Parliament’s position on the legislative proposal during negotiations with Member States. Final text will be adopted in Q4 2022/Q1 2023.

 

 

On 8 March, the European Commission proposed an outline of a plan to make Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels well before 2030, starting with gas, in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This plan, named REPowerEU, also outlines a series of measures to respond to rising energy prices in Europe and to replenish gas stocks for next winter. Europe has been facing increased energy prices for several months, but now uncertainty on supply is exacerbating the problem. REPowerEU will seek to diversify gas supplies, speed up the roll-out of renewable gases and replace gas in heating and power generation. This can reduce EU demand for Russian gas by two thirds before the end of the year.

 

Following the REPowerEU, on 23 March, the European Commission tabled a legislative proposal introducing a minimum 80% gas storage level obligation for next winter to ensure security of energy supply, rising to 90% for the following years. To address concerns about continued high energy prices, the Commission has also adopted a Communication setting out the options for market intervention at European and national level, and assessing the pros and cons of each option.

 

The Commission is expected to present options for more lasting changes in May.

 

As previously reported, on 14 March the UK government has opened applications under the Green Heat Network Fund to support work to commercialize and construct lower carbon systems for district heating and cooling. The call for applications will close on 27 May 2022.

 

As a reminder, the fund provides grant support to incentivize new lower carbon heat networks as well as retrofitting and expanding existing systems.

 

 

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On 17 May, Euractiv will hold a Virtual Conference to discuss how the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive can support a healthy indoor climate while accelerating a decrease of energy costs and decarbonising our buildings.

 

Questions to be discussed include:

Details about the online event and registration link are available here.

 

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On 17 May, Euractiv will hold a Hybrid Conference in Brussels to discuss what can be done to improve the existing regulatory framework to support an effective decarbonisation process in the building sector in the context of the ongoing discussions around the proposal to revise the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).

 

Questions to be discussed include:

How the EPBD proposal could best contribute to the decarbonisation of the building sector?

What are the technical challenges and solutions to electrifying the EU's building stock?

What renovations in buildings can contribute to sustainable mobility?

How to increase users’ awareness of their housing’s carbon footprint and of the low-carbon solutions that are available?

 

Details about the hybrid event and registration link are available here.

 

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Between 18 and 19 May, COOL DH project will hold a hybrid conference in Copenhagen to discuss the European future of district heating and the results of their pioneer project COOL DH.

 

The two-day conference will include hybrid keynotes, panel discussions, networking and guided tours of the demonstration sites in the City of Lund (Sweden) and the City of Høje-Taastrup (Denmark).

 

Details about the hybrid conference and registration link are available here.

 

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