Revising EU Energy label: evolution or revolution?

Panel: 2. Energy efficiency policies: What delivers?

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Stephane Arditi, European Environmental Bureau, Belgium
Luigi Meli, CECED, Belgium
Edouard Toulouse, ECOS, Belgium

Abstract

2014-2015 is the time horizon for revising the European Energy Labelling Directive. This coupled revision is a unique opportunity to combine in a more consistent way push and pull instruments for energy efficient product policy.

The last revision of the Energy Labelling Directive finalised in 2010 had been a somehow traumatic political exercise, resulting in a last minute decision to introduce additional classes above the former highest A class, namely A+, A++ and A+++ for all product categories. This solution to address the obsolescence of existing labels led to criticism by consumer and green NGOs, while at the same time not satisfying the industry. How could the legal revision to start in 2014-2015 better unleash the potentials of the Energy Label, with regards to its two key objectives: continuously driving consumers towards the best appliances and stimulating innovation and differentiation? The challenge is to identify how to ensure continuity with the strengths of the initial scheme while correcting the factors that may lead to poor dynamism and eventually decrease the impact of energy labelling on purchasing decisions. Eager to look at the file from a fresh angle and avoid past tensions, stakeholders from NGOs and industry have tried to put together some ideas to look at the issue from a fresh angle. They agreed about a set of principles to orient future investigations. This paper presents the guiding principles and three possibilities for the EU Energy Label evolution.

• A ‘towards zero’ scale, enabling a stable scaling pattern;

• the indication of a dated benchmark, allowing the immediate comparison to best performers available on the market;

• and the use of a continuous numeric approach versus – or in addition to - a mere class based layout.

These ideas represent a contribution to the work in progress. If and how they could be adopted as constituents of the new label should be assessed by proper field testing.