CELEX: 51992PC0182
Language: en
Date: 1992-06-26
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE to limit carbon dioxide emissions by improving energy efficiency (SAVE programme)

No C 179 / 8                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                  16 . 7 . 92
              Proposal for a Council Directive to limit carbon dioxide emissions by improving energy
                                                   efficiency (SAVE programme)
                                                            (92/C 179/05)
                                                          COM(92) 182 final
                                         (Submitted by the Commission on 20 May 1992)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,                            those responsible for such buildings are frequently not
                                                                     the occupiers ; whereas, moreover, in subsidized housing
                                                                     energy costs often represent a considerable proportion of
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                the total costs ;
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130a
thereof,
                                                                     Whereas the billing, to occupiers of buildings, of
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                   heating, air-conditioning and hot-water costs on the
                                                                     basis of actual consumption will contribute towards
                                                                     energy saving in the residential sector ;
Having regard to the opinion of the European
Parliament,
                                                                     Whereas the recommendations and resolutions adopted
                                                                     by the Council on the billing of heating and hot-water
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                     costs (2) have been applied in only two Member States,
Social Committee,                                                    whereas a significant proportion of heating air-con­
                                                                     ditioning and hot-water costs are still being billed on the
                                                                     basis of factors other than energy consumption ;
Whereas on 29 October             1990 the Council set an
objective of stabilizing carbon dioxide (C02) emissions
by the year 2000 ;                                                   Whereas new methods of financial support are needed to
                                                                     facilitate investments in energy saving in the public
                                                                     sector ; whereas, in this connection, the Member States
Whereas by Decision 91 /565/EEC (*) the Council                      should facilitate and make full use of the possibilities
adopted the SAVE programme aimed at making more                      offered up by third party financing;
rational use of energy in the Community;
Whereas Article 130r of the Treaty stipulates that one               Whereas new buildings will have an impact on long-term
objective of action by the Community relating to the                 energy consumption ; whereas they should therefore be
                                                                     fitted with efficient thermal insulation tailored to the
environment shall be to ensure a prudent and rational
utilization of natural resources ; whereas these natural             local climate ;
resources include oil products, natural gas and solid fuels
which are essential sources of energy but also the leading
sources of C02 emissions ;                                           Whereas regular maintenance of boilers and vehicles has
                                                                     a significant impact on their energy consumption and
                                                                     emissions of pollutants ; whereas regular inspection will
Whereas the residential and tertiary sectors account for             reduce both of these to the minimum ;
nearly 40 % of final energy consumption in the
Community and are expanding, a trend which is bound
to increase their energy consumption and, hence, also                Whereas industry is generally willing to make more
their C02 emissions ;                                                efficient use of energy to meet its own economic
                                                                     objectives ; whereas the energy audits already introduced
                                                                     in companies with high energy consumption should be
Whereas, by providing objective information about the                generally applied to bring about singificant
energy characteristics of buildings, energy certification            improvements in energy efficiency in this sector,
will help to improve transparency of the property market
and to encourage investments in energy savings ;
                                                                     (2) Council recommendation 76/493/EEC, OJ No L 140,
                                                                         28 . 5 . 1976, p. 12 .
                                                                         Council recommendation 77/712/EEC, OJ No L 295,
Whereas this certification is all the more vital in                      18 . 11 . 1977 , p. 1 .
buildings owned by the public authorities, given that                    Council resolution of 9 June 1980, OJ No C 149,
                                                                         18 . 6 . 1980 , p. 3 .
                                                                         Council resolution of 15 January 1985 , OJ No C 20 ,
C) OJ No L 307 , 8 . 11 . 1991 , p. 34 .                                 22 . 1 . 1985 , p . 1 .
 ---pagebreak--- 16 . 7 . 92                            Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 179 / 9
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE :                                     between the occupiers of all or part of a building on the
                                                                 basis of the specific quantities of heat, cold and hot
                                                                 water consumed by each occupier. This shall apply to
                           Article 1                             buildings or parts of buildings supplied by a collective
                                                                 heating, air-conditioning or hot-water installation. These
The purpose of this Directive is to secure the attainment        measures shall be taken save where technically impossible
by the Member States of the objective of limiting carbon         or where the costs exceed the savings expected.
dioxide emissions by improving energy efficiency,
notably by means of the following measures ;
                                                                                          Article 4
— energy certification of buildings,                             For the purposes of this Directive, 'third-party financing'
                                                                 means the provision of the services of auditing, instal­
— the billing of heating, air-conditioning and hot-water         lation, operation, maintenance and financing on a
    costs on the basis of actual consumption,                    turnkey basis for an energy efficiency investment, with
                                                                 the recovery of the cost of these services being
                                                                 contingent, either wholly or in part, on the level of
— promoting third-party financing for energy efficiency          energy savings .
    investments in the public sector,
                                                                 Member States shall take the necessary measures to
— thermal insulation of new buildings,                           favour third-party financing for investment in the public
                                                                 sector, notably by removing regulatory and adminis­
— regular inspection of boilers,                                 trative obstacles .
— regular inspection of vehicles,                                                         Article 5
— energy audits of businesses .                                  Member States shall take the appropriate measures to
                                                                 ensure effective thermal insulation of new buildings,
                                                                 taking a long-term view, on the basis of standards to be
                           Article 2
                                                                 laid down taking account of the climatic conditions or
                                                                 regions.
Energy certification of buildings shall consist of a
description of their energy characteristics which must                                    Article 6
provide information for prospective buyers.
                                                                 Member States shall take the necessary measures to
                                                                 ensure regular inspection of heating installations in order
Within five year of the date set in Article 1 1 this infor­      to attain :
mation shall be extended to prospective tenants.
                                                                 — optimum operating conditions from the point of view
Certification shall also apply to buildings owned by the             of energy consumption, and
public authorities.
                                                                 — minimum emissions of pollutants.
Member States shall take the appropriate measures in
order progressively to bring into effect :                                                Article 7
                                                                 Member States shall take the necessary measures to
— energy certification of buildings put up for sale or           ensure regular inspection of motor vehicles in order to
     rent    in transactions    between   private   citizens ;   attain :
     amendments may be allowed for certain types and
     categories of building and certain climatic conditions,
                                                                 — optimum operating conditions from the point of view
                                                                     of energy consumption, and
— certification of public-sector buildings at a rate of at
     least 5 % of the existing stock per year.                   — minimum emissions of pollutants.
                           Article 3                                                      Article 8
Member States shall take the measures necessary to               Member States shall take all the appropriate measures to
ensure the billing of heating, air-conditioning and              ensure the performance of energy audits of industrial
hot-water costs on the basis of actual consumption in            undertakings to optimize their energy efficiency and
order that the cost of these services can be apportioned         limit emissions of pollutants.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 179/ 10                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                 16 . 7 . 92
To this end, Member States shall determine the                                                Article 11
categories of industrial establishments for which such
energy audits are to be gradually introduced, on the                1 . Member States shall bring into force the laws,
basis of their contribution to carbon dioxide emissions,            regulations and administrative provisions necessary to
wherever these are high.                                            comply with this Directive not later than . . .
                             Article 9                              When Member States adopt these provisions, these shall
                                                                    contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accom­
Member States shall report to the Commission every two              panied by such reference at the time of their official
years on the results of the measures taken to implement             publication. The procedure for such reference shall be
this Directive .                                                    adopted by Member States.
                                                                    2.     Member      States   shall   communicate    to     the
                            Article 10                              Commission the texts of the provisions of national law
                                                                    which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.
The Council, acting by a qualified majority on a
proposal from the Commission and after consulting the
European Parliament and the Economic and Social                                               Article 12
Committee, shall, where necessary, adopt any additional
provisions to the rules laid down in this Directive.                This Directive is addressed to the Member States .
               Amendment to the proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 79/157/EEC on the
               approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the permissible sound level ant the
                                                 exhaust system of motor vehicles
                                                          (92 /C 179/06)
                                                 COM(92) 263 final/2 — SYN 337
               (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 149 (3) of the EEC Treaty on 11 June 1992)
1 . After the first recital, the new recital is added :                 further, more detailed studies and research on the
                                                                        problems associated with, and the technical solutions
                                                                        for noise created by, the contact between tyres and
    'Whereas the European Parliament has already called                 the ground — will result in the establishment of
    on the Commission to submit a proposal in 1992                      realistic and reproducible criteria and methods for
    laying down the maximum permissible noise limits                    determining this important type of noise pollution and
    taking account of the noise disturbance thresholds                  for laying down the relevant requirements to be
    defined by the OECD ;'.                                             complied with ;'.
2 . The seventh recital is amended as follows :
                                                                    3 . The ninth recital is amended as follows :
    'Whereas, of the noise pollution emanating from
    vehicles, that caused by the tyres has proved to be                 'Whereas many different types of tyre and road
    particularly severe when the vehicle's speed exceeds                surface already exist for the different geographical
    60 km/h ; whereas protecting the public effectively                 and atmospheric conditions ; whereas it is necessary to
    against noise pollution, particularly that caused by                continue studies and research so as to be able to
    traffic in urban areas, requires that two further stages            establish criteria to be met by tyres, and to define a
    be completed ; whereas the first stage, covered by this             specific numerical value for the type-approval of
    Directive, consists in giving as much additional weight             motor vehicles ; whereas the results of such studies
    as possible to the current requirements of each                     and research will enable the introduction of further
    category of vehicle with respect to the sound levels of             requirements, in addition to measures covering noise
    the mechanical parts and exhaust systems of motor                   of mechanical source provided for in this Directive, at
    vehicles ; whereas the second stage — in the light of               a second stage ;'.