Commenting on the plan, Greenpeace EU energy policy adviser Frederic Thoma said: “In its dying days, the outgoing Commission has tabled another gutless plan on energy that is a gift to the oligarchs of this world. An ambitious efficiency target would drastically cut the need for expensive imports of fossil fuels from Russia and elsewhere and help Europe stand up to bullies like Putin. The Commission’s own research shows efficiency could also create three-and-a-half million jobs, while helping tackle climate change. It’s a no-brainer that EU leaders cannot ignore. They must put Europe’s energy policy back on track.”

The Commission’s plan backs a 30 per cent energy efficiency target for 2030, completing the Commission’s trio of proposed 2030 climate and energy targets. The plan does not specify whether the target should be binding or not. Member States are still divided on the climate and energy targets ambition and whether they should be binding. EU leaders will take a decision at their October Summit.

Commission president-elect Jean-Claude Juncker, who will be responsible for tabling a legislative proposal on efficiency, has backed a binding 30 per cent target as a “minimum”. In June, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Luxembourg wrote a letter to the Commission asking for an ambitious and binding efficiency target [1].

Greenpeace supports three binding 2030 targets for the EU to cut domestic carbon emissions by at least 55 per cent, to increase the share of renewables to 45 per cent and to improve energy efficiency by 40 per cent.

Europe’s largest energy companies have been lobbying hard to avoid a meaningful EU energy efficiency target. Improving energy efficiency and developing renewables by setting binding targets would threaten their market dominance [2].