On the 3rd of December the European Commission adopted a proposal which will, for the first time, enable all Member States and regions in the European Union to invest in energy-efficiency and renewable energy measures in housing, with the support of European Cohesion Policy funding.
Current legislation on the EU Structural Funds gives new Member States only a limited right to use support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for housing. It can only be used for common parts of a building (or the entire building in the case of social housing) in deprived urban areas. The new proposal would allow the whole EU-27 to benefit from ERDF support for energy efficiency and renewable energy investment in all types of buildings. However, interventions can target only low-income households (as defined by national rules).
In concrete terms, interventions could co-finance, for example, national, regional or local schemes for insulation of walls, roofing and windows (double-glazing), solar panels, and replacement of old boilers for more energy-efficient ones.
Measures to speed up energy investment in buildings will contribute to the following objectives:
To date, through the Cohesion Policy, the 27 Member States have planned to invest €4.8 billion on renewable energies and €4.2 billion on energy efficiency and energy management measures.
The Member States and the Parliament will have to adopt this Commission’s proposal, in accordance with the co-decision procedure. The measure is foreseen in the European Economic Recovery Plan.
Source: EC Press release (IP/08/1874)
June 2011
The BEENetwork Newsletter is available for downloading.
June 2011
The BEENetwork Flyer is available in English and German language.
May 2011
Residents will get additional support for refurbishment of multifamily buildings in Lithuania. more
April 2011
New European Energy Efficiency Facility to finance sustainable energy at the local and regional level. more
March 2011
On 8th March 2011, the European Commission published the new Energy Efficiency Plan (EEP). more
February 2011
State grants for the renovation of apartment buildings in Estonia. more