BAKGRUNN (fra kommisjonsrekommandasjonen)

(1) Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) introduced a requirement to achieve the headline target of at least 32,5 % energy savings at Union level by 2030.

(2) Directive (EU) 2023/1791 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) was adopted on 13 September 2023. It recast Directive 2012/27/EU, keeping some of its provisions unchanged while, at the same time, introducing some new requirements. It significantly raised the level of ambition for 2030 in terms of energy efficiency, including in relation to consumer empowerment and protection, information and awareness raising and alleviation of energy poverty through energy efficiency improvements.

(3) Multiple factors impede consumers from accessing, understanding and acting upon the wide range of market information available to them. The introduction of basic contractual rights can help, among others, by facilitating a proper understanding of the quality of services offered in the contract by the supplier, including the quality and characteristics of the supplied energy. Directive (EU) 2023/1791 introduces provisions on basic contractual rights for heating, cooling and domestic hot water. Member States are required to ensure that final customers of heating, cooling and domestic hot water have the right to a contract with their supplier that provides/sets out the minimum required information, including the contact details of the supplier, the services provided, the duration of the contract and the conditions for renewal and termination of the contract and services. Final customers and final users of heating, cooling and domestic hot water should have the right to a good standard of service and complaint-handling by their suppliers.

(4) Long-term behavioural changes in energy consumption can be achieved through the empowerment of citizens, awareness raising on energy efficiency policies and improving their acceptance by the public. Directive (EU) 2023/1791 strengthens the provisions on dissemination of information, including through the establishment of one-stop shops. Member States are to ensure the creation of one-stop shops or similar mechanisms to provide technical, administrative and financial advice on and assistance with energy efficiency improvements to final customers and final users, with a specific focus on household and small non-household ones, including SMEs and microenterprises. The contribution of one-stop shops can be very important for vulnerable customers, as they could receive reliable and accessible information about energy efficiency improvements. Therefore, the one-stop shops are to offer dedicated services for people affected by energy poverty, vulnerable customers and people in low-income households.

(5) It is necessary to ensure that people affected by energy poverty, vulnerable customers, people in low-income households and, where applicable, people living in social housing are protected and, to that end, empowered to actively participate in the energy efficiency improvement interventions, measures and related consumer protection or information measures that Member States implement. Those who are most in (energy) need should be empowered to take an active role in the improvement of their conditions, to stop being passive receivers of interventions, and instead to be able to decide how they can improve the conditions they face. Targeted awareness-raising campaigns should be developed to illustrate the benefits of energy efficiency as well to provide information on the financial support available.

(6) Enshrining a definition of energy poverty in national law is a first step to acknowledging and identifying a problem and its wider context. It will support all relevant players in designing the right responses to tackle energy poverty at local, regional, national, and Union level taking into account the combination of its main three causes, that is to say, low income, higher energy bills and low energy efficiency.

(7) To empower and protect the most vulnerable groups of the population, Member States should implement energy efficiency improvement measures and related consumer protection or information measures, in particular those set out in Articles 8(3) and Article 22 of Directive (EU) 2023/1791, as a priority among people affected by energy poverty, vulnerable customers, people in low-income households and, where applicable, people living in social housing to alleviate energy poverty.

(8) To support people affected by energy poverty, vulnerable customers, people in low-income households and, where applicable, people living in social housing, Member States should implement energy efficiency improvement measures to mitigate distributional effects from other policies and carry out early, forward-looking investments in energy efficiency improvement measures before distributional impacts from other policies and measures show their effect.