EIRP Proceedings, Vol 12 (2017)

Abstract

The worldwide population growth and the lower accessibility to the primary energy resources – that have fast diminishing reserves – are reflected in the EU records with the 54 million people affected by the “energy poverty”. Therefore, the topic of energy efficiency is gaining a greater weight on the agenda of the governments, especially for countries that mostly depend on the energy resources of other countries. The Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on Energy Efficiency include other requirements concerning the introduction of smart meters and networks to encourage a more efficient power consumption. The paper aims to highlight, from a comparative perspective, a number of provisions adopted by some EU Member States to achieve national targets for energy efficiency in 2020. Some countries have recorded progress, others worrying delays, thus stressing the need for full implementation of the European legislative framework for energy efficiency. The used methodology is mainly qualitative and is based on the analysis of documents and case studies, and the performed analysis aims at providing important information so to strengthen the accountability of the decision makers with regard to policies and measures development to increase energy efficiency, from a concerted perspective aimed at facilitating the Energy Union objectives fulfilment.