German stakeholders welcome EU energy proposals, criticise lack of ambition

German politicians, NGOs and industry representatives have generally welcomed the second part of the European Commission’s “Fit for 55” package of energy and climate legislation, but criticised individual elements and some also an overall lack of ambition.

NGO Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) said that it is questionable whether the proposal for a revised buildings directive is ambitious enough. The new German government coalition had handed over responsibility for this instrument to the EU level by stipulating full support for the EU climate package. “It is now all the more important that the EU moves the member states to act and is actively supported by the German government in doing so,” said NABU president Jörg-Andreas Krüger.
The Commission’s announcement on minimum efficiency standards for buildings is overdue, said Barbara Metz, deputy managing director of environmental organisation DUH. It gives the construction industry planning security to build up skilled labour, said Metz.
Green Party MPs Julia Verlinden and Lisa Badum welcomed the new proposals, which in their view are a good foundation to ensure that the package could now be swiftly negotiated. “The Commission's proposals are steadily and surely driving the Green Deal forward,” they said.
Germany’s energy industry lobby group BDEW criticised the proposed rules for the unbundling of a future hydrogen network. “They would slow down the transformation of the gas system and the conversion of existing assets of value to a hydrogen system,” writes BDEW. Overall, the gas proposals contained “important elements” to make possible a future-oriented adaptation of the internal gas market rules. Regarding the buildings directive, BDEW criticised that the technical details of implementation should rather be left to the member states.

The European Commission has presented the remaining elements of its legislative package to make sure the EU reaches its 2030 climate target – the “Fit for 55 package.” These included proposals on the role and rules for natural gas and renewable gases and legislative drafts to ensure energy efficient building modernisation. The proposals will now be discussed by member state governments and the European Parliament over the coming months.