The Juncker Commission has prided itself with the slogan that it will be Big on big things and Small on small things. The buildings of the EU make up more than 50% of all fixed assets and consume around 40% of primary energy in the EU. Construction activity accounts for about 9% of EU GDP and about 3 million enterprises are active in the construction sector providing more than 13 million direct jobs. Surely this is a big sector that deserves a robust framework in which ambitious action can be undertaken?
With the release of the Energy Union Package today, the European Commission acknowledged that there is a huge potential for energy efficiency improvements in the buildings sector in the EU, pointing out that 75% of the housing stock in the EU is wasting energy. But the Energy Union Package falls short of setting urgent and ambitious actions to address this wastefulness in our buildings.