EU Officials bump up energy efficiency for domestic appliances but cave in to industry pressure on energy labels

[Brussels, 1 April 2009] - European environmental NGOs (EEB, Inforse-Europe, Friends of the Earth Europe, Natuur en Milieu and ECOS) welcome this week’s vote by Member States on energy efficiency measures under the Ecodesign of Energy-Using Products (EuP) Directive [1] but fear the level of ambition is insufficient in a time of climate crisis. In addition, EU officials have rushed through a rather confusing revision of the format for the Energy Label for household appliances which will now corrupt the simple A-G system that is currently in place and widely recognised throughout Europe. [2]

The votes on fridges [3], televisions [4] and washing machines will force manufacturers to produce more energy efficient appliances that have the potential to cut CO2 emissions by about 20 Million tonnes (Mt) per year by 2020 (like taking up to 10 million cars off the road each year). However, consumers would have saved even more on their energy bills if the adopted measures had reached their full potential of 30 Mt of CO2 savings. In addition, EU officials caved in to industry pressure and avoided rescaling the famous A-G Energy Label, instead choosing a new system that runs the risk of misleading consumers and has not been tested.

Edouard Toulouse, Ecodesign Officer at environmental group ECOS said: "An ambitious Ecodesign policy and a crystal-clear Energy Label for consumers are vital tools to make our lives sustainable and bring CO2 emissions down in the most cost-effective way." He added: "Televisions and fridges were very iconic tests for these policies. We expected bolder ambition." NGOs are also worried that the two products to come next under these policies - boilers and water heaters, with enormous CO2-cut potential and the same level of emissions as the transport sector - may not deliver enough [5].

Nathalie Cliquot, Product Policy Officer at the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) added: "Industry pressure prevented EU decision-makers from going for the greenest options and ensuring energy inefficient products are clearly flagged with simple A-G labels." She continued: "At least there will be a serious review of these instruments in 3 to 4 years, but in the meantime we must continue to explain why these policies are so important through the ‘coolproducts’ NGO campaign." [6]

Contacts:

Nathalie Cliquot, Product policy officer at the European Environmental Bureau (EEB)
, +32 (0)2 289 10 97 (French, English)

Edouard Toulouse, Ecodesign officer at ECOS (coordinating the input of Environmental NGOs in these policies)
, +32 (0)2 289 1096 (French, English)

Gunnar Boye Olesen, INFORSE-Europe
, +45 86 22 70 00 (Danish, English)

Notes for Editors:

[1] The EuP and Energy Labelling directives aim at setting minimum environmental performance and consumer information requirements on products sold in the EU. The EU aims to become 20% more energy efficient by 2020. Ambitious eco-design rules have the potential to cut Europe’s CO2 emissions by 450 million tons per year by 2020 - equivalent to the emissions of all European cars.

[2] The EU has revised the well known A-G energy label layout and introduced it for new product categories. Energy Labelling has been one of the most visible and successful EU-wide tools to inform consumers and achieve energy efficiency. However, the current revision adds confusing new classes named "A-20%", "A-40%", instead of rescaling the label to reflect how products have meanwhile become more efficient, so that the "A" grade remains the top of the class.

[3] Fridges and freezers. Despite technological progress in the past, substantial energy savings are still achievable. Also, the growth in appliance size and stock has annihilated part of the previous gains. The current electricity consumption of the domestic fridges and freezers stock on the market is 100TWh.

[4] Televisions: The environmental impact of TVs is an increasing concern. Without very serious policies, the yearly energy consumption of the European stock is expected to increase by 70 TWh in the next 10 years - representing as much as the overall household consumption of Italy. Lack of recyclability and recycling of flat screens is also a serious environmental issue.

[5] For more information on the large potential for energy savings and CO2 emission reductions in the heating products sector, please see this NGO briefing: "EU Ecodesign policy for boilers and water heaters, a huge and underestimated opportunity for climate policy "

[6] A coalition of environmental NGOs launched the "coolproducts" campaign on 12th March 2009. On the day of the launch, partner groups organised a "penguin refugee camp" in front of the European Commission. In addition, Avaaz delivered a petition signed by 116,829 citizens (which has meanwhile increased to 140,000) to the EU Commission asking for more stringent energy efficiency requirements for products sold in the EU.