Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Energy efficiency governance in the EU-28: analysis of institutional, human, financial, and political dimensions

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Energy Efficiency Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The European Union in line with its climate and energy strategy has presented a renewed ambition for the post-2020 period, towards 2030, through the Clean Energy for All Europeans policy package proposals. A new binding target of minimum 30% for energy efficiency improvements is in the horizon, as well as the identified need for a stronger governance framework to support its delivery. This research contributes to a better understanding of energy efficiency governance by analysing a set of indicators covering aspects related to institutional, human, financial, and political dimensions. The results obtained provide a more detailed perspective on the European Union level and Member State governance capacities. These indicate the need to develop institutional capacities related to the transposition of legislation and directives. In parallel, the disparities between individual Member State governance capacities should be considered when devising and implementing future policies. The implications for policymakers include the need for a more robust governance monitoring and reporting system, including the development of transparent and comparable indicators, as well as a more comprehensive assessment of the impact of good governance on delivering energy efficiency improvements.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. A dataset provided as Online Supplementary Material presents the Member States included in each group of the analyses presented for the four dimensions analysed

  2. Abbreviations used: n.i., no information available

  3. The results presented include acronyms for each Member State as follows: Austria: AT, Belgium: BE, Bulgaria: BG, Croatia: HR, Cyprus: CY, Czech Republic: CZ, Denmark: DK, Estonia: EE, Finland: FI, France: FR, Germany: DE, Greece: EL, Hungary: HU, Ireland: IE, Italy: IT, Latvia: LV, Lithuania: LT, Luxembourg: LU, Malta: MT, Netherlands: NL, Poland: PL, Portugal: PT, Romania: RO. Slovakia: SK, Slovenia: SI, Spain: ES, Sweden: SE, United Kingdom: UK

References

  • Bazilian, M., Nakhooda, S., & Graaf, T. (2014). Energy governance and poverty. Energy Research and Social Science, 1(2014), 217–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertoldi, P., & Rezessy, S. (2009). Energy saving obligations and tradable white certificates. European Commission Joint Research Centre. Ispra. https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/2009_12_jrc_white_certificates.pdf. Accessed 08 Dec 2016.

  • Bonn, M., Heitmann, N., Reichert, G., Voßwinkel, J. (2015). EU Climate and Energy Policy 2030 comments on an evolving framework. Freiburg. http://www.cep.eu/Studien/cepInput_Klima_und_Energie/cepInput_Climate_and_Energy_Policy_2020-2030.pdf. Accessed 01 Dec 2015.

  • Davies, J. (2006). Local governance and the dialectics of hierarchy, market and network. Policy Studies, 26(3–4), 311–335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Delina, L. (2012). Coherence in energy efficiency governance. Energy for Sustainable Development, 16(4), 493–499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • multiEE. (2015). multEE Project Briefing in a nutshell. http://multee.eu/system/files/multEE_Project Briefing_2016_0.pdf. Accessed 22 Feb 2017.

  • Eurelectric (2015). Energy Union and 2030 energy & climate governance. Brussels. http://www.eurelectric.org/media/172021/governance_paper_2015_final_version_21-04-2015-2015-030-0210-01-e.pdf. Accessed 30 Nov 2015.

  • European Commission (2010). Europe 2020. A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. - COM(2010) 2020 final. Brussels.

  • European Commission (2011a). Background on energy in Europe. Brussels.

  • European Commission (2011b). Energy 2020—a strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy. Brussels.

  • European Commission (2011c). Energy roadmap 2050—COM(2011) 885/2. Brussels.

  • European Commission (2011d). The commission’s new Energy Efficiency Directive—MEMO/11/440–22 June 2011. Brussels.

  • European Commission (2013a). “European Commission Energy Star Programme.” http://www.eu-energystar.org/en/en_016.shtml. Accessed 12 Dec 2013.

  • European Commission (2013b). Green paper—a 2030 framework for climate and energy policies—COM(2013) 169 final. Brussels.

  • European Commission (2013c). “GreenBuilding Programme—European Commission.” http://iet.jrc.ec.europa.eu/energyefficiency/greenbuilding-programme/about-greenbuilding-programme. Accessed 12 Dec 2013.

  • European Commission (2013d). “GreenLight Programme—European Commission.” http://iet.jrc.ec.europa.eu/energyefficiency/greenlight. Accessed 12 Dec 2013.

  • European Commission (2013e). Questions and answers: green paper framework for climate and energy policies—MEMO. Brussels.

  • European Commission (2014a). 2030 climate and energy goals for a competitive, secure and low-carbon EU economy, IP/14/54. Brussels.

  • European Commission (2014b). A policy framework for climate and energy in the period from 2020 to 2030, COM(2014) 15 final. Brussels.

  • European Commission (2014c). Climate and energy priorities for Europe: the way forward. Brussels.

  • European Commission (2014d). Energy efficiency and its contribution to energy security and the 2030 framework for climate and energy policy, Annexes 1 of 3, COM(2014) 520 final. Brussels.

  • European Commission. (2014e). Energy efficiency and its contribution to energy security and the 2030 framework for climate and energy policy, COM(2014) 520 final. Brussels.

  • European Commission. (2015a). Assessment of the progress made by Member States towards the national energy efficiency targets for 2020 and towards the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU as required by Article 24 (3) of Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU. Brussels. https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/1_EEprogress_report.pdf. Accessed 21 Nov 2016.

  • European Commission (2015b). “Energy Efficiency Directive target reporting.” DG Energy Portal. http://ec.europa.eu/energy/efficiency/eed/eed_en.htm. Accessed 16 Jan 2015.

  • European Commission. (2015c). Energy Union package. Brussels. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:1bd46c90-bdd4-11e4-bbe1-01aa75ed71a1.0001.03/DOC_1&format=PDF. Accessed 21 Nov 2016.

  • European Commission. (2015d). State of the Energy Union 2015. Brussels. https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2015/EN/1-2015-572-EN-F1-1.PDF. Accessed 22 Feb 2017.

  • European Commission. (2016a). Clean energy for all—the new energy efficiency measures. Brussels. https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/technical_memo_energyefficiency.pdf. Accessed 22 Feb 2017.

  • European Commission. (2016b). Clean energy for all Europeans. Brussels. http://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/com_860_final.pdf. Accessed 22 Feb 2017.

  • European Commission. (2016c). Ecodesign Working Plan 2016–2019. Brussels. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52016DC0773&from=EN. Accessed 22 Feb 2017.

  • European Commission. (2016d). Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings. Brussels. http://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/1_en_act_part1_v10.pdf. Accessed 22 Feb 2017.

  • European Commission. (2016e). Proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2012/27/EU on Energy Efficiency. Brussels. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:efad95f3-b7f5-11e6-9e3c-01aa75ed71a1.0009.02/DOC_1&format=PDF. Accessed 22 Feb 2017

  • European Commission. (2017a). 2016 assessment of the progress made by Member States in 2014 towards the national energy efficiency targets for 2020 and towards the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU as required by Article 24 (3) of the Energy Efficiency Directive. Brussels. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/file/2470/download_en?token=OFLxIK45. Accessed 22 Feb 2017.

  • European Commission. (2017b). Second report on the state of the Energy Union. Brussels. https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2017/EN/COM-2017-53-F1-EN-MAIN-PART-1.PDF. Accessed 22 Feb 2017.

  • European Council. (2014). Conclusions adopted by the European Council meeting. EUCO 169/14 on the 2030 Climate and Energy Policy Framework. Brussels. http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-169-2014-INIT/en/pdf. Accessed 21 Nov 2016.

  • European Union. (2004) Directive 2004/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 on the promotion of cogeneration based on a useful heat demand in the internal energy market and amending Directive 92/42/EEC, Official Journal Of The European Union 50–60 (2004).

  • European Union. (2006). Directive 2006/32/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union of 5 April 2006. European Union: Official Journal of the European Union.

  • European Union. (2009) Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-related products (recast), Official Journal of the European Union.

  • European Union. (2010a) Directive 2010/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council; on the indication by labelling and standard product information of the consumption of energy and other resources by energy-related products (recast), Official Journal of the European Union.

  • European Union (2010b). Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings (recast). Official Journal of the European Union.

  • European Union (2012a). Delivering on the Europe 2020 strategy—handbook for local and regional authorities. Brussels.

  • European Union (2012b). Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on Energy Efficiency, Amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and Repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC. Vol. 4. European Union: Official Journal of the European Union.

  • Faber, J., Schroten, A., Bies, M., Sevenster, M., Markowska, A., Smit, M., Rohde, C. et al. (2012). Behavioural climate change mitigation options and their appropriate inclusion in quantitative longer term policy scenarios. Delft, April 2012.

  • Florini, A., & Sovacool, B. (2009). Who governs energy? The challenges facing global energy governance. Energy Policy, 37(12), 5239–5248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gisselquist, R. (2014). Developing and evaluating governance indexes: 10 questions. Policy Studies, 35(5), 513–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golubchikov, O., & Deda, P. (2012). Governance, technology, and equity: an integrated policy framework for energy efficient housing. Energy Policy, 41, 733–741.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta, J., & Ivanova, A. (2009). Global energy efficiency governance in the context of climate politics. Energy Efficiency, 2(4), 339–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harmsen, R., Eichhammer, W., & Wesselink, B. (2014). An exploration of possible design options for a binding energy savings target in Europe. Energy Efficiency, 7(1), 97–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IEA. (2010). Energy efficiency governance—handbook—second edition. Paris: International Energy Agency http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/name,3931,en.html. Accessed 01 Feb 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • IEA, (2014). Capturing the multiple benefits of energy efficiency—executive summary. Paris.

  • Jollands, N., Ellis, M. (2009). Energy efficiency governance—an emerging priority—ECEEE summer studies 2009. Edited by Nigel Jollands and Mark Ellis. European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

  • Jollands, N., Gasc, E., & Pasquier, S. (2009). Innovations in multi-level governance for energy efficiency. Paris: International Energy Agency.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen, S., Jollands, N., & Staudt, L. (2012). Global governance for sustainable energy: the contribution of a global public goods approach. Ecological Economics, 83, 11–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kempe, R. (2011). Investing in capacity development: towards an implementation framework. Policy Studies, 32(1), 59–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer-Ohlendorf, N., Duwe, M., Roberts, E., Umpfenback, K. (2015). An effective governance system for 2030 EU climate and energy policy: design and requirements discussion paper. Berlin. http://www.ecologic.eu/sites/files/publication/2015/meyer-ohlendorf-15-effective-governance-syystem-2030.pdf. Accessed 29 Nov 2015.

  • Nesbit, M. (2014). Getting delivery right: the EU 2030 climate and energy targets and the challenge of governance. London. http://www.ieep.eu/assets/1659/IEEP_EU2030_governance_paper.pdf. Accessed 01 Dec 2015.

  • Ringel, M., Schlomann, B., Krail, M., & Rohde, C. (2016). Towards a green economy in Germany? The role of energy efficiency policies. Applied Energy, 179, 1293–1303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sartor, O., Spencer, T., Bart, I., Cochran, I., Colombier, M., Neuhoff, K., Szpor, A., Tuerk, A., and Wyns, T. (2014). What is needed in the EU’s 2030 climate and energy framework. www.climatestrategies.org. Accessed 01 Dec 2015.

  • Schlomann, B., Rohde, C., & Plotz, P. (2015). Dimensions of energy efficiency in a political context. Energy Efficiency, 8(1), 97–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schüle, R., Aydin, V., Fischer, J., Thomas, M., Thomas, S., Becker, D., Bader, N. (2013). Improving and implementing national energy efficiency strategies in the EU framework. www.energy-efficiency-watch.org. Accessed 28 March 2015.

  • Steuwer, D. (2012). Energy efficiency governance—the case of white certificate instruments for energy efficiency in Europe. Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tasdoven, H., Fiedler, B., & Garayev, V. (2012). Improving electricity efficiency in Turkey by addressing illegal electricity consumption: a governance approach. Energy Policy, 43, 226–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, S. (2015). Embedding principles of good governance into the 2030 climate and energy framework. Brussels. http://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/renewable_energy/2015/turner_2015-six_principles_of_good_governance.pdf. Accessed 03 Dec 2015.

  • Turner, S., Genard, Q., Roberts, J., Luebbeke, I. (2015). Four key messages for the governance of European climate and energy policies after 2020. http://www.e3g.org/docs/E3G_Four_Key_Messages_for_the_governance_of_EU_climate_and_energy_policies_after_2020_V2.pdf. Accessed 03 Dec 2015.

  • European Union (2013). Report on the energy roadmap 2050, a future with Energy (2012/2103(INI)) Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. Brussels.

  • World Energy Council (2015). Energy efficiency policies and measures database. Paris. https://www.worldenergy.org/data/energy-efficiency-policies-and-measures/. Accessed 05 Feb 2016.

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Portuguese National Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for supporting this work through the Doctoral Grant PD/BD/105841/2014, awarded on the framework of the MIT Portugal Program funded through the POPH/FSE. Additionally, this work has been partially supported by FCT under project grants UID/MULTI/00308/2013 and SAICTPAC/0004/2015-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016434, as well as by the Energy for Sustainability Initiative of the University of Coimbra.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Energy for Sustainability Initiative, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra, Rua Luís Reis dos Santos, 3030-788, Coimbra, Portugal

    Guillermo Ivan Pereira & Patrícia Pereira da Silva

  2. INESC Coimbra, Institute for Systems Engineering and Computers at Coimbra, Rua Sílvio Lima, Pólo II, 3030-290, Coimbra, Portugal

    Guillermo Ivan Pereira & Patrícia Pereira da Silva

  3. MIT Portugal Program in Sustainable Energy Systems, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Guillermo Ivan Pereira

  4. CeBER, Center for Business and Economics Research, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, Av. Dias da Silva, 165-3004-512, Coimbra, Portugal

    Patrícia Pereira da Silva

Authors
  1. Guillermo Ivan Pereira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Patrícia Pereira da Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guillermo Ivan Pereira.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(XLSX 14.9 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pereira, G.I., da Silva, P.P. Energy efficiency governance in the EU-28: analysis of institutional, human, financial, and political dimensions. Energy Efficiency 10, 1279–1297 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-017-9520-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-017-9520-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation