Eurostat rules on public debt and deficit have a negative impact on investments in energy efficiency in the public sector in several EU Member States, reveals a EU study conducted on the effect energy performance contracting (EPC) have on the national budget, study quoted in a joint document issued by Romanian energy efficiency organizations ARPEE and ESCOROM.
“Eurostat rules on public debt and deficit, set out in the guidance note, can be easily interpreted as a regulatory barrier which discourages investment in energy efficiency in the public sector. One of the most important goals of ARPEE is to propose appropriate measures to remove regulatory barriers and obstacles of other nature that impede energy efficiency”, said Gerard Verdebout, President at ARPEE.
If until now the European System of National and Regional Accounts (SEC 2010 – in force since September 2014) was subject to interpretation, the guidance note issued by Eurostat in August 2015 makes visible a situation not favorable for Energy Performance Contracting (EPC), report the two associations active in promoting energy efficiency nationally.
The study to which the press release refers to was conducted at the initiative of the European Association of ESCO Societies (EU.ESCO), together with the European Federation of Intelligent Energy Efficiency Services (EFIEES) as volunteer co-administrators of the European Code of Conduct on Energy Performance contracts.
33 respondents participated in the survey, representing 29 organizations from 15 Member States. Respondents in ten Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden) have communicated that these rules have a negative impact on investment in energy efficiency in the public sector.
Dragon Volker, President at EU.ESCO, and Valérie Plainemaison, Secretary General at EFIEES explained that the guidance note confirm the fact that Eurostat rules on public debt and deficit are a serious obstacle to the development of CPE public markets in several Member States and an obstacle to regulation for contracting and energy efficiency investments in the public sector.