Op-ed: Energy Renovation, the New Energy Security Doctrine of the EU

By Adrian Joyce, Director of the Renovate Europe Campaign

The EU is facing its second major energy price crisis in four years. The latest, sparked by the US and Israeli conflict with Iran, is again pushing up fossil fuel prices and exposing the same weakness: the EU still depends too much on imported energy it cannot control. The European Commission estimates that higher fossil fuel prices have already added around €24 billion to Europe’s energy import bill this year, money that could have been invested in our under-performing buildings.

The EU already has the legislation it needs: the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, the Energy Efficiency Directive, the Renewable Energy Directive and the EU ETS for buildings and road transport. The challenge now is for Member States to implement them urgently. A recent Guidehouse study shows that fast-tracking energy efficiency, building renovation and climate policies could cut EU gas demand by nearly half by 2040.

The households most exposed to price shocks often live in the worst-performing buildings. Each country needs a strong renovation plan, predictable funding, one-stop shops, skilled installers and full use of the Social Climate Fund for structural measures, instead of one-off subsidies in times of crisis.

We cannot subsidise our way to energy security, but we can renovate our way there!