REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 2016 assessment of the progress made by Member States in 2014 towards the national energy efficiency targets for 2020 and towards the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU as required by Article 24 (3) of the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU
Date: 2017-02-01
Institutions: Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, energy consumption, energy efficiency, energy saving, energy use, renewable energy

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 1.2.2017  COM(2017) 56 final   REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 2016 assessment of the progress made by Member States in 2014 towards the national energy efficiency targets for 2020 and towards the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU as required by Article 24 (3) of the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU   
 
 
Table of contents 

1. 

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3 

2.  Progress towards reaching the 2020 EU energy efficiency target .................................................. 4 

3.  National targets ............................................................................................................................... 4 

4. 

Energy consumption trends and assessment of national measures by sector ............................... 5 

4.1. 

Industry .................................................................................................................................... 6 

4.2. 

Residential sector .................................................................................................................... 7 

4.3. 

Services sector ......................................................................................................................... 8 

4.4. 

Public sector ............................................................................................................................ 8 

4.5. 

Transport sector ...................................................................................................................... 9 

4.6. 

Electricity and heat generation sector .................................................................................... 9 

4.7. 

Status of transposition of the EED ......................................................................................... 10 

5.  Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 11 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Increasing energy efficiency is key for addressing future challenges of the European Union. 
Lowering  the  demand  for  energy  and  'putting  energy  efficiency  first'  is  therefore  one  of  the 
five main objectives of the Energy Union. In 2015, Member States confirmed the imperative 
need  to  reach  the  20%  energy  efficiency  target  for  20201.  Energy  efficiency  policies  bring 
cost savings for consumers, in addition to benefits with respect to the reduction of greenhouse 
gas  emissions,  security  of  supply,  competitiveness,  sustainability  of  the  European  economy 
and  job  creation.  In  November  2016,  the  Commission  therefore  proposed  to  strengthen  this 
crucial policy area beyond 2020 by aiming for a 30% EU binding energy efficiency target for 
20302. 

This 2016 report provides an assessment of the progress made up to 2014 towards reaching 
the 20% energy efficiency target for 2020 and implementing the Energy Efficiency Directive 
(EED).  It  includes  several  recommendations  for  Member  States3.  Based  mainly  on  Member 
States’ 2016 Annual Reports and the latest 2014 data from Eurostat, it builds on the Energy 
Efficiency Progress Report 20154. 

The main findings of the report are as follows: 

  The  EU  has  made  considerable  progress  over  the  last  years.  In  2014,  its  primary 
energy consumption was only 1.6% above its 2020 primary energy consumption 
target.  Final  energy  consumption  was  even  2.2%  below  the  2020  target5. 
However,  primary  energy  consumption  increased  by  around  1.5%  and  final  energy 
consumption by around 2% in 2015 compared to 2014 levels6. (This is because 2014 
was an exceptionally warm year. The 2015 figures are a reversion to the trend.)  

  Member  States  are  committed  to  implementing  ambitious  energy  efficiency  policies 

and increased their efforts in recent years considerably in all sectors7. 

  A decomposition analysis carried out for the EU-28 shows that the decrease in primary 
energy  consumption  from  2005  to  2014  was  primarily  due  to  an  improvement  in 
energy  intensity8.  The  downturn  in  the  economy,  changes  in  the  fuel  mix  and 
structural changes played a comparatively minor role. 

  Continued efforts are needed to renovate existing buildings in order to save energy and 
to reduce consumers' energy costs. For this reason, the financing conditions for energy 
efficiency investments need to be further improved in Member States. Information and 

1 The 2020 target is to lower the EU's final energy consumption to less than 1086 Mtoe, and its primary energy 
consumption to less than 1483 Mtoe. European Council Conclusions of 23 and 24 October 2014, EUCO 169/14. 
2 COM(2016) 860 final. 
3 Article 24(3) EED. 
4 COM(2015) 574 final. The indicator ‘Heat from district heating plants’ is no longer included in this report as 
the relevant data from Eurostat includes all heat produced. As a result, the indicator will no longer be used until 
specific data is available from the data collection under Article 24(6) EED. 
5 Eurostat data was extracted for all indicators of this report between 31.8.2016 and 20.10.2016. 
6 A detailed analysis of 2015 data will be undertaken in the 2017 Energy Efficiency Progress Report. 
7  The  notified  Member  State  targets  represent  up  to  17.7  %  primary  energy  consumption  reductions  in  2020 
compared to 2007 baseline projections. However, for final energy consumption, Member State targets represent 
up to 20.6% final energy consumption reductions in 2020 compared to 2007 baseline projections. 
8  Ratio  of  national  primary  energy  consumption  to  national  GDP.  This  energy  intensity  effect  accounts  for 
changes  in  total  energy  consumption  due  to  improvements  in  energy  efficiency  and  other  factors.  Whereas  a 
change  of  this  intensity  effect  cannot  be  attributed  to  energy  efficiency  exclusively,  another  decomposition 
analysis  performed  by  Odyssee-Mure  confirmed  that  energy  efficiency  was  the  main  driver  of  reduction  in 
primary and final energy consumption in 2005-2014 (see Annex 5 of SWD(2016)405).  

3 

 
 
 
                                                            
communications technology (ICT) can play a major role in this respect by providing 
consumers  useful  toolkits  to  enhance  their  awareness  and  to  manage  their  energy 
consumption in a smart way. 

  Most  Member  States  should  make  further  improvements  in  energy  efficiency  in  the 

transport sector to exploit remaining energy-saving potentials. 

The  Commission  is  optimistic  that  the  20 %  primary  energy  consumption  target  will  be 
reached if Member States stick to their commitments and continue to implement existing 
EU energy efficiency legislation and successful energy efficiency programmes. 

2. 
PROGRESS TOWARDS REACHING THE 2020 EU ENERGY EFFICIENCY TARGET 
Final  energy  consumption9  in  the  EU  dropped  by  11%  from  1191  Mtoe  in  2005  to  1062 
Mtoe in 2014, below the 2020 final energy consumption target of 1086 Mtoe. Absolute final 
energy consumption has declined in all Member States since 2005 except in Lithuania, Malta 
and Poland10. 

In  2014,  transport  accounted  for  the  biggest  share  (33%)  of  total  final  energy  consumption, 
followed by industry (26%), the residential sector (25%), the services sector (13%) and other 
sectors (3%). 

Primary energy consumption11 in the EU dropped by 12% from 1712 Mtoe in 2005 to 1507 
Mtoe  in  2014.  This  consumption  level  is  still  slightly  above  the  2020  primary  energy 
consumption target of 1483 Mtoe.  

Absolute primary energy consumption has declined in all Member States since 2005 except in 
Estonia,  Finland  and  Poland.  Estonia  experienced  the  largest  annual  increase  (2.6%),  while 
Finland’s  primary  energy  consumption  remained  broadly  stable  over  the  period  2005-2014. 
The annual reductions in Greece, Lithuania and the United Kingdom were substantial12. 

NATIONAL TARGETS 

3. 
Member States set their national indicative 2020 energy efficiency targets in 201313. In 2014, 
the final energy consumption of 17 Member States was already below their indicative 2020 

9  Final  energy  consumption  is  the  energy  supplied  to  industry,  transport,  households,  services  and  agriculture, 
excluding deliveries to the energy transformation sector and the energy industries themselves.  
10  See  also  SWD  on  the  2016  Monitoring  progress  towards  the  Energy  Union  objectives  -  Key  indicators  and 
http://iet.jrc.ec.europa.eu/energyefficiency/node/9145. 
11  In  addition  to  final  energy  consumption,  primary  energy  consumption  includes  generation/  transformation 
losses, consumption of the energy transformation sector and network losses. 
12 Idem footnote 10. 
13 Member States have set themselves targets with different ambition levels, in most cases aiming to lower their 
absolute energy consumption by 2020. However, in the case of Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Italy, Portugal 
and Romania the target allows an increase in final energy consumption. This is projected to be higher than the 
forecast  GDP  growth  from  2014  to  2020.  For  Croatia,  Finland,  Greece,  and  Romania  the  indicative  primary 
energy  consumption  targets  for 2020  would  allow  an  increase  in primary  energy consumption  at  a  rate higher 
than their expected average GDP growth from 2014 to 2020. The sum  of national targets (17.6% reduction in 
primary energy consumption compared to forecasts) falls short of the 20% EU level target. See COM(2015) 574. 

4 

 
 
 
                                                            
final  energy  target14.  Similarly,  19  Member  States  achieved  a  primary  energy  consumption 
below their indicative 2020 primary energy target already in 201415. 

The  remaining  Member  States  are  still  some  way  off  their  national  indicative  targets 
expressed in final and/or primary energy consumption for 2020.  

4. 

ENERGY  CONSUMPTION  TRENDS  AND  ASSESSMENT  OF  NATIONAL  MEASURES  BY 
SECTOR  

Most Member States decreased their primary and final energy consumption between 2005 and 
2014 at a rate that, if maintained, is sufficient for them to meet their primary and final energy 
consumption  targets  by  2020.  For  primary  energy  consumption,  the  exceptions  to  this  are 
Estonia,  Malta  and  Sweden.  For  final  energy  consumption,  the  exceptions  are  Austria, 
Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia16. 

The  largest  reductions  in  primary  energy  consumption  from  2013  to  2014  were  in  Belgium 
(8%),  Denmark  (7%)  and  the  UK  (7%).  The  Netherlands  had  the  largest  decrease  (8%)  in 
final  energy  consumption,  followed  by  France  (7%)  and  Belgium  (6%).  Only  in  the 
Netherlands and Luxembourg  did  final energy consumption decrease across  all sectors. The 
largest increase in final energy consumption was observed in Malta (3%), Bulgaria (3%) and 
Lithuania (2%)17. 

A first decomposition analysis was carried out to examine the impact of different drivers on 
historical trends in primary energy consumption at EU level over the last decade (2005-2014), 
based  on  EUROSTAT  data.  The  analysis  assessed  the  relative  contribution  of  economic 
activity18,  structure19,  fuel  mix20  and  energy  intensity  to  the  overall  reduction  of  primary 
energy  consumption  over  the  period  (206  Mtoe).  In  particular,  the  activity  effect  led  to  an 

14 The Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the 
Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Finland. 
15  Austria,  the  Czech  Republic,  Denmark,  Ireland,  Greece,  Spain,  Cyprus,  Croatia,  Italy,  Latvia,  Lithuania, 
Luxembourg, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. 
16  Since  only  2014  data  is  available,  this  comparison  cannot  take  into  account  the  impact  of  recently 
implemented energy efficiency measures on meeting the new obligations under the EED, nor the impact of some 
of the measures recently adopted under the Ecodesign, Energy Labelling and Energy Performance of Buildings 
Directives.  This  comparison  does  not  allow  the  carrying  out  of  a  conclusive  assessment  of  whether  Member 
States are on track to meet their indicative 2020 energy efficiency targets. This is because the future positive or 
negative effects of changes in the economy, changes in energy prices, fuel switching or climate variations cannot 
be forecasted for 2015-2020. 
17 Idem footnote 10. 
18 GDP, an indicator of EU-28 wealth, accounts for changes in energy consumption due to a change in economic 
activity. The activity effect is positive if energy consumption increases due to additional energy demand caused 
by increased economic activity. 
19 Ratio of each Member State’s GDP to total EU-28 GDP. It accounts for changes in energy consumption that 
would  have  been  observed  due  to  a  change  in  the  relative  importance  of  countries  with  different  energy 
intensities.  The  structural  effect  is  positive  if  the  GDP  of  countries  with  relatively  high  energy-intensive 
economies increases. 
20  Ratio  of  national  primary  energy  consumption  for  each  fuel  to  national  primary  energy  consumption  for  all 
fuels together. It accounts for changes in energy consumption due to changes in the fuel mix of the economy, i.e. 
the impact of fuel mix composition. The fuel mix effect is negative if there is a shift towards cleaner fuels. 

5 

 
 
 
                                                            
increase of 123 Mtoe in energy consumption. However, this was offset by an almost threefold 
decrease (-353 Mtoe) due to significant improvements in energy intensity21.  

On the other hand, the impact of structural and fuel mix changes for EU-28 as negligible. The 
structural effect amounted to +25 Mtoe. This can be attributed to the relative growth of more 
energy-intensive  national  economies  compared  to  that  of  less  energy-intensive  ones.  There 
was  a  very  small  negative  fuel  mix  effect  (-0.5  Mtoe),  suggesting  a  slight  shift  towards 
cleaner fuels. This suggests that significant energy efficiency improvements have been made 
in the past decade. 

Figure  1:  Decomposition  of  changes  in  EU-28  primary  energy  consumption  change  for  2005-2014  using  the  additive 
Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index approach (LMDI) 

e
o
t
M

200

0

-200

-400

122,9 

24,8 

-0,5 

Activity
effect

Structural
effect

Fuel mix
effect

-353,2 
Intensity
effect

-206,0 

Total effect

Source: JRC analysis 

A first decomposition analysis of final energy consumption was carried out at Member State 
level  for  2005-2014  for  the  productive  sectors  of  the  economy22.  Preliminary  results  show 
negative activity effects in Greece, Croatia, Italy and Portugal. This led to lower final energy 
consumption, reflecting the economic downturn in these countries. The structural effect was 
negative in most Member States, indicating increased activity in less energy-intensive sectors. 
Only Estonia, Poland, Hungary and Austria experienced a slight shift towards more energy-
intensive  sectors.  This  resulted  in  higher  energy  consumption  in  this  period  than  would 
otherwise have been the case.  

Negative energy intensity effects reflecting improvements in energy intensity were recorded 
in  all  Member  States  except  Latvia  and  Cyprus.  Significant  energy  intensity  improvements, 
which  resulted  in  energy  consumption  reductions,  were  made  in  Bulgaria,  the  Czech 
Republic, Romania and Slovakia23. The Commission considers that public policy has been the 
key  driver  for  energy  efficiency  improvements.  This  finding  was  recently  confirmed  by  the 
International Energy Agency and the Odyssee-Mure decomposition analysis24. 

4.1. 

Industry 

The  final  energy  consumption  of  industry  decreased  in  absolute  terms  from  328  Mtoe  in 
2005 to 275 Mtoe in 2014 (16%).  

21  These  are  the  preliminary  results  of  a  first  decomposition  analysis  performed  by  the  Commission.  The 
methodology is still being developed and will be discussed further with Member States and stakeholders. 
22 The following sectors were considered: Industry, construction, services, agriculture, forestry and fishing. 
23  These  are  the  preliminary  results  of  a  first  decomposition  analysis  performed  by  the  Commission.  The 
methodology is still being developed and will be discussed further with Member States and stakeholders. 
24  https://www.iea.org/eemr16/files/medium-term-energy-efficiency-2016_WEB.PDF 
SWD(2016)405. 

and  Annex  5  of 

6 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
 
In  2014,  thirteen  Member  States  registered  a  drop  of  final  industrial  energy  consumption 
compared  to  2013  levels.  The  countries  with  the  largest  increase  in  industrial  energy 
consumption  were  Cyprus  (19%),  Greece  (9%)  and  Hungary  (6%).  The  main  reasons  some 
Member States gave for growth from 2013 to 2014 were the increase in industrial value added 
and the increased consumption of cement factories and factories producing wood chips. 

In terms of the final energy intensity of industry, there is a significant difference between 
the  most  energy-intensive  Member  State,  Bulgaria,  and  the  least  energy-intensive  ones, 
Denmark and Ireland. Whilst this is influenced by the share of energy-intensive industries, the 
energy intensity in industry decreased in most Member States in 2014 compared to 2005, the 
exceptions  being  Cyprus,  Greece,  Hungary  and  Latvia.  There  were  almost  no  further 
improvements in energy intensity in Austria and Finland25.  

4.2. 

Residential sector 

The absolute final energy consumption of the residential sector dropped by 15% from 309 
Mtoe in 2005 to 263 Mtoe in 2014 due to several reasons including greater energy efficiency 
of  appliances  and  energy  performance  improvements  in  the  building  stock  following  the 
gradual  implementation  of  the  Energy  Performance  of  Buildings  Directive  and  ecodesign 
minimum  standards.  Also  information  provided  to  consumers  through  energy  performance 
certificates  for  buildings  and  metering  of  energy  consumption  contributed  to  this  positive 
trend as this provided consumers with useful toolkits to enhance their awareness about their 
energy consumption. 

None  of  the  Member  States  reported  an  increase  in  the  final  energy  consumption  of  the 
residential  sector  from  2013  to  2014.  A  significant  20%  decrease  was  noted  in  the 
Netherlands, followed by 18% in Belgium. 
2014 was an unusually warm year which should lead to a lower heating demand26. However, 
despite  2014  being  a  warmer  year  than  the  year  2013,  climate  corrected  residential  energy 
consumption data reveals rising consumption trends in 2014 compared to 2013 in 17 Member 
States.  One of  the  reasons  for  this may  be  that  climate  corrections  do not  take  into  account 
cooling degree days. They should therefore be considered in future analyses, in particular as 
cooling will play an increasing role in energy needs in southern countries. 

Climate-corrected final energy consumption per capita also decreased on annual average by 
0.7% between 2005 and 2014. The largest improvements were made in Belgium, Ireland and 
the United Kingdom in this period27. Energy consumption per square metre also improved 
in  all  Member  States  between  2005  and  2014.  The  largest  decreases  were  seen  in  Cyprus, 
Latvia and Portugal28. 

25 Idem footnote 10. 
26 There were 2 809 heating degree days (HDD) on average in 2014 at EU-28 level compared to an average of 
3 218 HDD in 2013 and an average 3 143 HDD in the reference period 1990-2014 [data source: Eurostat, Joint 
Research Center (IES/MARS Unit)]. The climate correction factor was calculated as a proportion of the heating 
degree days in a given year over the average heating degree days in the period 1990-2014. This correction factor 
was applied to the overall energy consumption of the residential sector. If disaggregated end-use consumption 
data is available in Eurostat, climate correction is applied to heat consumption data only. 
27 Indicators in the SWD on the 2016 Monitoring progress towards the Energy Union objectives - Key indicators 
are not climate corrected. 
28 See Odyssee-Mure database: http://www.indicators.odyssee-mure.eu/online-indicators.html. 

7 

 
 
 
                                                            
4.3. 

Services sector 

In the services sector, final energy consumption decreased by 2% from 144 Mtoe in 2005 to 
141 Mtoe  in  2014.  This  sizable  decrease  of  6%  in  2014  compared  to  2013  can  be  partly 
explained by the mild winter in 2014 as heating in the services sector is estimated to account 
for 62% of final energy consumption29. 

All countries experienced decreasing or stable absolute energy consumption in their services 
sector in 2014 compared to 2013 except Estonia, Latvia, Malta, Portugal and Sweden. Rising 
or  stable  trends  were  explained  by  Cyprus  and  Malta  with  a  surge  in  tourism  and  climate 
variations  with  higher  energy  consumption  for  heating,  ventilation  and  air  conditioning. 
Latvia linked the increase in consumption to the increase in the gross value added of services, 
while Portugal cited the rise in working hours in the public sector as a possible reason. 
Final energy intensity30 in the services sector improved annually on average by 1% in the 
period  2005-2014. The greatest  improvements were  made  in Hungary, Ireland and Slovakia 
over this period. Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece and Italy all registered stable or increasing 
final energy intensity in this period31. These latter Member States should focus on the services 
sector to increase energy efficiency. This will help improve the competitiveness of this sector, 
which is expected to grow in the future. 

4.4. 

Public sector 

Article 5 of the EED requires Member States to renovate 3% of the total floor area of heated 
and  cooled  buildings  owned  and  occupied  by  central  government  that  do  not  meet  the 
minimum  energy  performance  requirements  of  the  Energy  Performance  of  Buildings 
Directive.  An  alternative  is  to  use  other  measures  to  achieve  equivalent  savings.  To 
implement the requirements of Article 5, 18 Member States will adopt alternative measures, 
i.e.  measures  that  create  incentives  for  occupants  to  change  their  behaviour.  The  other 
Member States have opted for the default approach of renovating 3% of the total floor area. 

Based  on  the  2016  Annual  Reports,  Member  States  that  decided  to  implement  the  default 
approach reported that approximately 1 245 000m² of eligible building stock was renovated in 
2014 and 995 000m² in 2015. Member States which adopted the alternative approach notified 
energy  savings  for  the  years  2014  and  2015  to  the  Commission,  however,  there  are  some 
uncertainties  regarding  the  reporting  (e.g.  chosen  units  or  missing  data).  Preliminary 
investigations support the conclusion that the adopted alternative approach in Austria, Croatia, 
Cyprus,  the  Czech  Republic,  Finland,  Ireland,  Netherlands,  Poland,  Sweden  and  the  UK 
generated the required annual energy savings in the period 2014-2015. Croatia, Finland and 
Sweden reported an overachievement. In the case of the default approach, Member States that 
claim  to  have  met  their  renovation  requirements  in  2014  and  2015  are  Estonia,  Spain, 
Hungary,  Italy  and  Latvia.  The  Commission  will  continue  to  closely  monitor  the 
implementation of this provision.  

29 COM(2016) 51 final. 
30  Indicator  that  specifies  how  much  energy  is  needed  to  produce  the  values  added  of  the  services  sector  in  a 
certain year. 
31 Idem footnote 10. 

8 

 
 
 
                                                            
Transport sector 

4.5. 
The absolute final energy consumption in transport32 of the EU-28 decreased by 4% from 
369  Mtoe  in  2005  to  353  Mtoe  in  2014.  In  2014,  13  Member  States  increased  their  energy 
consumption  in  this  sector  compared  to  2005  levels33.  Consumption  increased  considerably 
(by  more  than  20%  since  2005)  in  Lithuania,  Malta,  Poland,  Romania  and  Slovenia.  By 
contrast, it fell by 21% in Greece and 20% in Spain in 2014 compared to 2005 levels. 

The EU-28's final energy consumption in transport increased by 1% from 2013 to 2014, with 
20  Member  States  reporting  an  increase  compared  to  2013.  This  represents  a  significant 
change  from  the  previous  year,  when  an  upward  trend  was  observed  in  only  11  Member 
States.  Countries  with  the  largest  increase  include  Bulgaria  (11%),  Hungary  (12%)  and 
Lithuania  (11%).  The  fall  in  energy  prices  was  cited  as  one  of  the  main  reasons  for  the 
increase in transport energy consumption. Other reasons include the increase in the number of 
vehicles  and  in  freight/passenger traffic.  In  Malta,  the  significant increase  in  tourist  arrivals 
was associated with increased energy consumption in aviation and automotive transport. 

The share of collective passenger transport ranged from 11% in Portugal to 35% in Hungary 
in 201434. At EU level, collective passenger transport share remained stable at around 18% in 
2014  compared  to  2005.  The  biggest  increase  in  2014  compared  to  2005  was  reported  in 
Belgium  and  the  Czech  Republic.  In  terms  of  freight  transport,  the  modal  share  of  road 
transport  fell  slightly  from  76%  to  75%  of  total  inland  freight  transport  between  2005  and 
2014. At national level, the share of railways and inland navigation freight transport ranged 
from 0 % in Cyprus and Malta to 81% in Latvia in 2014. Romania and Bulgaria reported the 
biggest increase of their shares in 2014 compared to 2005. 

4.6. 

Electricity and heat generation sector  

Together  with  the  EU  Emission  Trading  System,  targeted  energy  efficiency  policies  can 
increase  energy  efficiency  in  the  power  sector, e.g.  promoting  heat  and  electricity produced 
by high-efficiency combined heat and power (CHP), efficient district heating and cooling as 
well as renewable energies and the further deployment of ICT toolkits and dedicated software 
to better integrate variable energy sources. The heating and cooling sector plays a crucial role 
in this respect35. 

The decrease in primary energy consumption over the last few years was due to a decrease in 
final energy consumption and a structural change in the power generation sector. In particular, 
structural  changes  from  thermal  power  generation  to  more  renewable  energy  sources  took 
place in recent years. With a 16% share in the gross final energy consumption in 2014, the EU 
and the majority of Member States are on track and even above their indicative trajectory in 

32  Including  pipeline  transport,  contrary  to  the  approach  taken  in  COM(2015)  574  final  as  the  2020  energy 
efficiency targets do not exclude pipeline transport. 
33 A comparison of Member States should be undertaken with caution because final energy consumption is based 
on  the  fuels  sold  rather  than  the  fuels  used  in  the  territory  of  a  country.  Factors  other  than  energy  efficiency 
therefore come into play, e.g. the degree to which a given Member State is a ‘transit country’ for road transport 
or a hub for aviation. 
34 The passenger and freight transport indicator changed compared to COM(2015) 574 final. Transport activity is 
now adjusted for territoriality (Source: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/pocketbook2016.pdf).  
35 COM(2016) 51 final. 

9 

 
 
 
                                                            
terms  of  renewable  energy  deployment.  RES-E  can  significantly  contribute  towards  a 
reduction in primary energy consumption36. 

Heat generation from CHP plants decreased in almost all Member States in 2014 compared to 
201337. This downward trend for heat generated from CHP plants can also be observed in 14 
Member States in the period 2005-2014. 

The output/input ratio of thermal power generation38 decreased in 17 Member States in 2014 
compared  to  2013.  The  same  applies  to  13  Member  States  that  decreased  their  output/input 
ratios in 2014 compared to 2005. The reasons for this can be manifold, e.g. a switch to other 
fuels. 

A  well-functioning  EU  ETS  with  a  Market  Stability  Reserve  as  well  as  targeted  energy 
efficiency policies can provide a complementary incentive to increase energy efficiency in the 
power sector. In addition, Member States should closely follow up on the implementation of 
the assessments of efficiency potentials in generation and transmission/distribution networks 
under Article 15 of the EED and the cost-benefit assessments  for efficient CHP and district 
heating and cooling required under Article 14 of the EED. 

4.7. 

Status of transposition of the EED  

The  EED  has  still  not  been  fully  transposed  in  some  Member  States.  As  a  result,  these 
countries cannot fully reap the benefits of this directive. The EED's contribution to reaching 
the  2020  and  2030  energy  efficiency  targets,  the  proper  development  of  energy  efficiency 
markets and the empowerment of consumers and market actors can only be achieved once it 
has been fully and effectively transposed.  

To this end, the Commission continues to closely monitor the implementation of the EED. It 
closed  22  of  the  27  infringement  proceedings  initially  opened  for  missing  or  partial 
notification by  the  Member  States  of  the  national  legislation  necessary  to  transpose  each  of 
the  EED  requirements.  The  Commission  is  still  in  contact  with  some  Member  States  on 
correct  implementation  of  Article  7  of  the  EED.  In  2017,  it  will  launch  a  dialogue  with  all 
Member States to check the conformity of the national legislation with the Directive, in other 
words  that  all  the  obligations  and  requirements  of  the  EED  are  correctly  reflected  in  the 
national legislation. 
The implementation of Article 739 shows that the Member States made good progress towards 
reaching  the  2020  cumulative  savings  target40.  In  fact,  energy  savings  of  12 Mtoe  were 
achieved by EU-28 in 2014, which amounts to 5% of the sum of total savings requirements 
reported  by  the  Member  States.  In  addition,  the  reported  savings  by  eight  Member  States  – 

36 See the 2016 Renewable Energy Progress Report. 
37 Another data set was used here compared to COM(2015) 574 and SWD(2015) 245. For this report, CHP data 
reported under Article 24(6) EED to Eurostat was used: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/energy/data. There was 
an increase only in Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Malta, Portugal and the United Kingdom. 
38 Measures such as the ratio of transformation output of thermal power generation to fuel input. 
39 Article 7 requires Member States to set up Energy Efficiency Obligation Schemes to achieve new 1,5% end-
use annual savings, or adopt alternative measures with the same result.  
40  The  sum  of  the  cumulative  end-use  savings  requirements  reported  by  Member  States  is  230  Mtoe,  which 
should be achieved by 31 December 2020. 

10 

 
 
 
                                                            
France, Hungary, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and the United Kingdom – 
reached or exceeded the expected annual savings for 201441. 

In  2014,  Belgium,  Denmark,  Estonia,  Germany,  Greece,  Ireland  Latvia,  Portugal,  and 
Slovenia reported to have achieved at least 50% of their expected annual savings for that year 
under Article 7. Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Sweden achieved less than 50% 
of  their  expected  savings  for  2014.  Additional  efforts  would  be  needed  in  these  Member 
States in the coming years to meet their overall cumulative saving requirements by 2020. 

Latvia and Luxembourg reported no Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme (EEOS) savings in 
2014  as  there  were  no  schemes  in  place  yet.  Greece  initially  reported  only  alternative 
measures, but now intends to set up an EEOS as of 1 January 201742. Lithuania and Estonia 
recently  announced43  that  they  no  longer  plan  to  set  up  an  EEOS.  Overall,  eight  Member 
States44 reported updates to their measures in their 2016 Annual Reports. The Czech Republic 
updated its savings requirement. 

CONCLUSION 

5. 
As highlighted in the Communication on Clean Energy for all Europeans45, energy efficiency 
should  be  the  first  energy  source  as  it  plays  a  key  role  in  speeding  up  the  clean  energy 
transition  and  boosting  growth  and  job  creation,  and  contributes  to  the  EU's  security  of 
supply. Energy efficiency saves money and has become a sustainable business model. Most 
Member  States  have  recognised  the  multiple  benefits  of  energy  efficiency  and  committed 
themselves  not  only  to reaching  ambitious energy efficiency targets for 2020, but  have  also 
put many energy efficiency programmes and measures in place.  

These efforts have had profound impacts: a decomposition analysis by JRC showed that EU-
28  primary  energy  consumption  dropped  by  206  Mtoe  in  2005-2014  mainly  due  to  an 
improvement of energy intensity46. In other words, primary energy consumption would have 
been 23% higher in 2014 without the energy intensity improvements made since 2005. This 
level  of  energy  saving  has  reduced  consumer  energy  bills  and  is  estimated  to  have  reduced 
greenhouse gas emissions by around 800 million tonnes of CO2 in 2014.  

To  further  unlock  private  and  public  investments  in  energy  efficiency,  the  Commission 
presented  its  initiative  Accelerating  clean  energy  in  buildings  in  201647.  It  focuses  on  the 
challenges  and  opportunities  that  sustainable  energy  building  investments  represent  for  the 
construction  sector  and  also  contains  the  Smart  finance  for  smart  buildings  initiative.  The 
latter initiative will support more effective use of public funds, the development of bankable 
project  pipelines  based  on  aggregation  and  assistance  mechanisms  and  the  de-risking  of 
energy efficiency investments for project promoters, financiers and investors. Together with 
these initiatives, the Commission has also adopted a dedicated strategy on accelerating clean 

41  No  annual  split  of  expected  savings  for  policy  measures  was  reported  for  Latvia,  Finland,  Lithuania  and 
Poland. For Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Spain, annual expected savings in 2014 were reported for 
some policy measures only. 
42 The obligation scheme will therefore form part of Greece's Article 7 policy package together with alternative 
measures. 
43 In the structured dialogue as part of the EU pilot process. 
44 Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Spain and the United Kingdom. 
45 COM(2016)860 final. 
46 See chapter 4. 
47 Annex 1 of COM(2016)860 final. 

11 

 
 
 
                                                            
energy  innovation48.  This  Communication  lays  out  a  comprehensive  strategy  for  the  three 
main  policy  levers  the  EU  can  deploy  to  boost  clean  energy  innovation  and  focuses  its 
Horizon2020  funding  on  decarbonising  the  EU  building  stock  as  one  of  the  four  priorities. 
The  Commission  will  put  all  initiatives  in  place  immediately.  The  direct  impact  of  these 
initiatives will help to close the gap towards the energy efficiency targets in the short term. 

The EU has already achieved considerable reductions in energy consumption and reduced its 
final  energy  consumption  below  the  2020  target.  Even  with  the  slight  increase  in  primary 
energy consumption in 2015 compared to 2014, the Commission is optimistic that the EU is 
on  track  to  reach  its  target.  This  is  because  primary  energy  consumption  in  2014  was  only 
1.6% higher than the absolute primary energy consumption target for 2020. 

As in the 2015 Energy Efficiency Progress Report, the performance indicators in this report 
show  variations  between  Member  States  for  2005-2014.  However,  most  indicators  have 
improved at EU level. 

The majority of Member States improved their final energy intensity in industry and the 
service sector which is encouraging.  

As the analysis shows, most Member States reduced energy consumption per square metre on 
average in the residential sector in the period 2005-2014. However, climate corrected final 
energy  consumption  per  capita  increased  for  many  Member  States.  As  highlighted  in  the 
Clean  Energy  for  all  Europeans  package49,  Member  States  should  continue  to  focus  on 
renovating  existing  buildings.  This  helps  households  to  achieve  the  same  or  better  levels  of 
comfort for less money. ICT will play a crucial role in this respect by providing consumers 
useful toolkits to enhance their awareness about energy consumption, allowing them a smart 
management  of  their  energy-consuming  appliances  in  real  time  and  preventing  unnecessary 
energy consumption. In addition, more focused measures are needed to address fuel poverty 
effectively. 

The transport sector was the only one to experience an increase in final energy consumption 
in 2014 compared to 2013, with 20 Member States reporting an increase with respect to 2013 
and 13 Member States experiencing an increase compared to 2005. All Member States should 
draw upon positive examples from other Member States to reverse the upward trend. Active 
travel  (cycling,  walking),  greater  use  of  collective  passenger  transport  and  more  sustainable 
modes for freight transport (i.e. railways and inland waterways) should be encouraged as well 
as the use of low-emission alternative energy for transport, efficient vehicles/vessels and the 
deployment of the related infrastructure, for example the installation of recharging points for 
electric vehicles as proposed by the Commission50.  

The  Commission  will  continue  to  closely  monitor  the  progress  of  Member  States  towards 
reaching their indicative national energy efficiency targets for 2020 and the implementation of 
the EED. It will also update its assessment as part of the State of the Energy Union.  

The Commission invites the European Parliament and Council to express their views on this 
assessment.  

48 COM(2016)763 final.  
49 COM(2016)860 final. 
50 Ibid. 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Table 1: Overview indicators  

Source: Eurostat, DG ECFIN, Odyssee -Mure 

* Symbol "+" is used if Member States decreased their primary and final  energy consumption between 
2005 to 2014 at a rate which is higher than the rate of decrease which would be needed in the period 
2005 to 2020 to meet the 2020 primary and final energy consumption targets. Symbol " -" was used for 
the other cases. 

13 

Energy Intensity whole economyIndustryIndicatorsPEC 2005-2014 trend compared to PEC 2005-2020 trend to reach the 2020 target*FEC 2005-2014 trend compared to FEC 2005-2020 trend to reach the 2020 target*Change of PEC 2014 compared to PEC 2013 in %Change of FEC 2014 compared to FEC 2013 in %2005-2014 average annual change of PEC energy intensity in % (PEC in Mtoe/GDP in M€'10) 2005-2014 average change of energy intensity in industry in % (FEC industry in toe/GVA industry in M€'10)2005-2014 average annual change of final energy consumption residential per capita (HDD normalized) in % 2005-2014 average annual change of  energy consumption per m2 with climatic corrections in koe/m2 in % Source and extraction dateEurostat31/08/2016Eurostat31/08/2016Eurostat31/08/2016Eurostat31/08/2016Eurostat31/08/2016 and 02/09/2016Eurostat31/08/2016Eurostat31/08/2016Odyssee 05/10/2016EU28++-4.0%-4.1%-2.2%-1.8%-0.7%-2.3%BE+--7.5%-5.8%-2.4%-0.9%-2.2%-0.3%BG++5.7%2.7%-3.0%-6.3%2.2%-2.6%CZ++-2.7%-3.5%-2.6%-5.0%0.7%-0.8%DK++-7.2%-3.9%-1.8%-2.5%0.0%-1.9%DE+--3.9%-4.0%-2.2%-1.3%0.0%-3.5%EE-+1.3%-1.9%0.9%-4.5%1.1%-1.0%IE++-0.4%0.3%-2.2%-0.6%-2.6%-1.6%EL++0.3%1.5%-0.3%3.2%-2.1%-1.0%ES++-1.5%-1.9%-2.2%-1.6%-0.3%-0.2%FR++-4.4%-6.7%-1.9%-1.4%4.0%-2.2%HR++-4.9%-5.0%-1.7%-1.8%na-2.1%IT++-6.1%-4.3%-1.9%-2.7%0.5%-2.5%CY++1.9%0.1%-1.4%3.2%1.2%-4.1%LV++0.0%0.8%-1.5%2.5%0.1%-4.4%LT+--1.0%2.0%-5.6%-2.2%1.8%-0.8%LU++-2.8%-3.1%-3.8%-1.4%-0.3%-1.9%HU++-0.5%0.7%-2.5%3.6%-0.7%-1.4%MT--1.7%3.5%-3.1%na11.1%-3.7%NL++-5.2%-8.3%-1.9%-1.7%-0.4%-3.0%AT+--3.8%-3.9%-1.8%-0.2%0.3%-3.2%PL++-4.2%-2.7%-3.5%-5.2%1.4%-1.0%PT++-1.8%-0.3%-1.7%-1.0%0.3%-4.0%RO++-0.6%-0.6%-4.3%-6.4%1.7%-0.7%SI++-3.3%-4.0%-1.7%-3.5%1.9%-1.4%SK+--4.3%-5.2%-4.9%-5.1%-0.1%-0.6%FI++1.4%-1.1%-0.3%-0.1%-0.2%-1.4%SE-+-1.8%-1.2%-2.0%-1.4%-1.2%-2.3%UK++-6.5%-5.4%-3.2%-2.1%-2.7%-3.3%Trend to reach the 2020 targetShort term trendHouseholds 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 2: Overview indicators 

Source: Eurostat 

14