Requests the EU to press Norway to introduce a directive on energy efficiency – Energy and Climate

It is not usual for organizations and companies in Norway to ask the European Commission to take action with the Norwegian authorities.

– We see the European Commission as our closest ally in the work on energy efficiency in Norway, says senior advisor Bård Baardsen at the Norwegian Heat Pump Association to Energy and Climate.

He is one of the initiators of the letter to the EU.

The inquiry from the 23 organizations is clearly inspired by the European Commission’s letter to Norway in March. There, the EU set a deadline which means that Norway may face sanctions if it does not introduce the renewables directive from 2018 into the EEA agreement within five months.

The letter from the EU, which is signed by Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, has caused some strong reactions in Norway. But now these organizations and companies are asking that the European Commission do the same to Norway in the matter of introducing the EU’s energy efficiency directive.

Asking for a deadline

In the letter to the European Commission’s energy officer, Kadri Simson, the 23 organizations request that a clear deadline be set for introducing the directive into Norwegian law. In the letter, it is indicated that Norway has recognized that it is EEA-relevant and that the Storting has adopted this.

According to the letter, the lack of implementation means that Norway lacks clear targets for energy efficiency in buildings. In addition, it is pointed out that this undermines Norwegian companies’ opportunities to compete on the European market.

Criticism of selection

The EU has tightened the requirements for energy efficiency in buildings three times, since the first of the three directives came into force in 2012. But none of these have been followed up by changing governments in Norway. The sins of omission go all the way back to the days of the Stoltenberg government.

In the report from the committee that has assessed experiences with the EEA agreement, the lack of introduction of energy directives is criticised. The committee, which presented its report on 11 April, determined that procrastination with the energy directives weakened Norway’s position in the EU.

The European Commission has also taken this up on various occasions. Norway and the other two EFTA-EEA countries have promised fines and recovery.

SP critical of the letter

SP’s energy policy spokesperson, Gro-Anita Mykjåland, reacts to the letter from the organisations. She believes it is “very problematic that these organizations ask the EU to pressure the Norwegian authorities to adopt directives in Norwegian law, rather than talking to Norwegian elected representatives. Such bypassing of the Norwegian people’s government is not in line with the tradition we have in Norway of good dialogue between interest organizations and Norwegian elected representatives in policy-making,” she writes in an email.

Lack of plan

The EU countries have had both plans for the energy efficiency of buildings and clear targets for this since 2008. Norway has lacked this, the letter states.

Many of the 23 organizations have worked for several years to get the Norwegian authorities to take energy efficiency seriously. Now they see the European Commission as their best ally in making this happen. The three companies that have signed the letter all work internationally.

The 23 organizations and companies that have signed the letter are: Zero, Naturvernforbundet, Bellona, ​​Natur og Ungdom, Greenpeace, WWF, Samfunnsbedriftene, NBBL, Byggenæringens Landsforening, Norsk Eiendom, Nelfo, Novap, EFO, Building Goods Industry, HVAC cooling and ventilation companies, HVAC plumbing companies , Norske Trevarer, Solenergiklyngen, Integra, Lyskultur, Multiconsult, Nibe and Skanska.

The case was updated with a comment from Sp at 18.16 on 23 April.