Public buildings

CEMR welcomes the Committee of the Regions’ dismissal of the 3% renovation of public buildings target

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) welcomes the opinion of the Committee of the Regions on energy efficiency, adopted in the plenary session on 15th December. It reflects, in major part, the views expressed in the CEMR position paper on this issue.

CEMR welcomes the proposals of the Committee of the Regions aimed at encouraging local governments to implement alternative measures to meet the target of 20% of reduction of energy consumption by 2020, without imposing binding targets, as it is originally the case in the Directive proposal. The European Commission indeed states that, as from 1st January 2014, 3% of the total floor area owned by public bodies must be renovated each year.

"I am delighted that on 15 December 2011 the Committee of the Regions has rejected the Commission's proposal that 3% of local government buildings be renovated each year. This would be very costly at a time of great austerity across Europe. I hope that MEPs will follow the CoR lead and reject the 3% proposal", declared Gordon Keymer, Leader of the Tandridge district Council, Vice-President of CEMR and Member of the Committee of the Regions.

As expressed in the position paper published in September 2011, the CEMR recalls the necessity to respect the subsidiarity principle and to avoid imposing burdensome and inflexible targets upon local and regional government.

Additionally, the CEMR is also very concerned about the Commission's proposal to promote energy efficiency through public procurement. This provision requires public authorities to purchase only products, services and buildings with high energy efficiency performance, which would raise a number of practical difficulties for the local and regional governments.

The choice of whether to include energy efficiency criteria should indeed be left to the local or regional authority itself and any EU related requirement must remain entirely voluntary. CEMR would favour an approach based on incentives to buy the most energy-efficient products, for instance guidance on their positive impacts and their life-cycle costs.

CEMR calls on the Members of the Parliament to take into consideration the voice of the local and regional governments in the debate organised on 20th December on this issue in ITRE Committee.