Feedback: Energy Taxation Directive

EuroACE gave its feedback on the Commission’s inception impact assessment of the Energy Taxation Directive (ETD).

• A much-needed revision: the ETD, published in 2003, is out of date and does not reflect the current ambition of EU energy and climate policies, nor the decreased technology costs in sectors such as energy efficient buildings
• The ETD should reflect the Energy Efficiency First principle: inequalities of treatment between supply side and demand side measures, or between energy carriers, should be corrected. Taxation measures should incentivise and reward saving energy, not consuming more energy
• The revision should deliver investments in energy efficient buildings: revenues from energy taxation should be recycled into measures that reduce our energy consumption, notably the energy renovation of buildings, which would also help compensate the distributional effects of energy taxes on households in energy poverty