The European Commission has introduced a strategy which it says will encourage greater energy efficiency in new and existing buildings across Europe.
The strategy was developed by the directorate-general for enterprise, and includes plans to improve financing for energy technology R&D and deployment, as well as training in energy efficiency. The Commission says that some money to implement the strategy will come from €120 billion which is supposed to be released by the European Investment Bank as part of June’s EU Pact for Growth and Employment.
The strategy will encourage energy businesses and business-university collaborations that develop better and more efficient energy technologies for home use.
The next step in the strategy will be to create a high-level forum with member states in which the strategy’s implementation will be discussed, and recommendations from member states will be heard.
The strategy also foresees support for European companies to cope with increased competition from outside Europe, most notably from China. The announcement was made a week after a group of European solar panel producers submitted a claim of unfair competition through price-dumping against Chinese companies, which the Commission is investigating.