EC asks Romania and the Czech Republic to adopt national measures on energy efficiency in buildings

Newsroom 17/10/2013 | 13:39

The European Commission (EC) has issued a formal request to Romania and the Czech Republic to ensure full compliance with their obligations under EU legislation on energy efficiency in buildings (Directive 2010/31/EU). The EC asked the two member states through a reasoned opinion to notify the Commission of all their transposition measures for the directive which had to be transposed into national law by 9 July 2012. “If the Member States do not comply with their legal obligation within two months, the Commission may decide to refer them to the Court of Justice,” according to an EC press release.

Under Directive 2010/31/EU member states must “establish and apply minimum energy performance requirements for buildings; ensure that the building’s energy performance is certified and carry out regular inspections of heating and air conditioning systems. In addition, the directive requires Member States to ensure that from 2021 onwards all new buildings will be so-called nearly zero-energy buildings”, read EC’s press release.

In September 2012 the Commission started infringement procedures against 24 member states (all except Denmark, Ireland and Sweden) that had not notified the Commission of national measures transposing the directive into national law. Reasoned opinions were already sent to Italy, Greece, Portugal and Bulgaria in January 2013, to Spain and Slovenia in April 2013, to Belgium, Germany, Finland, France, Latvia, Poland and the Netherlands in June 2013 and to Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary and the United Kingdom in September 2013.