Energy policy: energy performance of the buidings of the Union, energy saves and efficiency

The Council accepted 17 of the 30 European Parliament amendments, some of them in substance or in principle. These include the following: -a provision in the recital that additional costs involved in renovation should be recovered within a reasonable time; -clarification of the concept of "major renovation;" -recommendation for subsidy programmes to be created in the Member States to facilitate equal access to improved energy performance resulting from the certification; -further development of standards relating to energy performance in buildings is envisaged by the Commission; -outdoor climactic and local conditions are taken into account -the definition of building is made clearer by indicating that a building means a roofed construction having walls; -local conditions and the designated function and the age of the building have to be taken into account within the energy performance requirements; -common certification of the building is possible under certain conditions; -the Commission evaluates the Directive and makes proposals with relation to complementary measures for enhancing energy performance in buildings; -the Commission will assist Member States in staging information campaigns for enhancing energy performance; -Member States are given 36 months to transpose the Directive; -the aspect "indoor climactic conditions" has been added to the methodology of calculation of energy performances; -"sports facilities" is a further category under which buildings can be classified. The Council feels that the amendments which were not integrated were either too detailed or not consistent with the general objective of the Directive. Some amendments were already covered by other provisions. The Council has also added an alternative means of calculation and compliance. The common position provides for a choice between two ways to calculate the 25% threshold that determines what a major renovation of an existing building is. For energy performance certification, it is possible to comply by using voluntary agreement. For boiler inspections, Member States may choose to ensure that a programme of advice on boiler replacement is made available to the users and owners of the boilers. Such programmes may include on-site inspections.�