More than half of energy demand in the European Union goes into heating and cooling buildings, not only consuming more energy than needed but also creating a financial burden for many families in Europe. This is why the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament today called for ambitious reforms in the energy sector to make it more efficient, environmentally responsible and socially oriented.
 
Following a vote on a report for a New Energy Market Design and on an EU strategy on heating and cooling, S&D vice-president Kathleen Van Brempt MEP said:
 
“The Commission will soon present new proposals for energy efficiency and energy performance of buildings and we expect them to be ambitious. Last year at the UN Climate Conference in Paris we all agreed on the urgency of taking urgent measures to reduce CO2 emissions and avoiding a dangerous global temperature rise. Now is the time to deliver: the EU should have a binding target of reducing energy consumption by 40% by 2030."
 
S&D spokesperson on energy, Dan Nica MEP, said:
 
“Any measure we take on energy efficiency and energy performance of buildings will have a major impact on the accomplishment of our objectives for the Energy Union and for our industry. We need to take better care of European industry and the jobs that depend on it. We must act now to build a better future through the reorganisation of the energy market in order to incorporate renewables in the grid.
 
“However, we must not lose sight of households and families. They already pay a very high price for their energy, and many families don’t get any help to improve the insulation in their house or to update their heating or cooling installations."

S&D MEP and author of the parliamentary report on the heating and cooling strategy Adam Gierek, said:
 
“Up to 40% of our final energy consumption is used in buildings and this represents 36% of total CO2 emissions. Within this figure, most energy is used for heating and cooling, so improving our cooling and heating systems would mean a big contribution to energy savings in Europe.
 
“So far we have only focused on public buildings, but it is time for companies and households to benefit from schemes aimed at improving their living conditions and reducing their energy bills.
 
“Any measure must be accompanied by access to financing to undertake the necessary reforms, both for companies and for households.”

For more information:

S&D Position Paper on Energy Union: http://www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/position-papers/towards-energy-union

S&D Energy Poverty webpage: http://www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/endenergypoverty

MEPs involved
Head of delegation
Coordinator
Romania
Head of delegation
Member
Belgium