class D for everyone by 2033 – Corriere.it

T he directive on the energy performance of buildings, Energy Performance of Building Directive, was approved in first reading, with 343 votes in favor, 216 against and 78 abstentions, by the European Parliament. After the plenary’s first s the reform text will now open the so-called trilogue with the Council and the European Commission to arrive at the final version of the new directive, which only once in force must be applied by the member states. The text that had already obtained the go-ahead in the Industry, Research and Energy committee (Itre, last 9 February) will go to form the Parliament’s mandate for negotiations with the European Council and the Commission. Disappointed Italian government which had expressed reservations on the text approved by the EU Parliament.

The government: Unsatisfactory directive for Italy

The directive on Green Houses approved in the European Parliament is unsatisfactory for Italy. Also in the Trilogue, as we have done up to now, we will continue to fight in defense of the national interest, affirms the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin. Identifying a portion of the building stock that can be exempted for reasons of economic feasibility was a dutiful and necessary step, but the time objectives, especially for existing residential buildings, are currently unattainable for our country, continues Pichetto. No one is asking for preferential treatment, but only the awareness of reality: with the current text one could foreshadow the substantial inapplicability of the Directive, making the ‘green’ objective disappear and also creating distortions on the market.

The no of the majority parties

All the political forces of the government majority voted against the text. The energy efficiency of buildings is an objective that can be shared but cannot be pursued on the skin of citizens, say the co-president of the ECR group Nicola Procaccini, the head of delegation of FdI-Ecr Carlo Fidanza and the MEP of FdI-Ecr Pietro Fiocchi member of the Itre commission of the European Parliament motivating the contrary vote expressed by the FdI delegation and by the entire Ecr group. The text approved today dictates unreasonable times, does not take into account the differences between the various member states and does not clarify the allocations foreseen to support this path. Under these conditions, there is a prospect of a real patrimonial situation to the detriment of citizens who would have to take on huge disbursements to comply with the obligations of the directive.

The abstention of Action-Italia Viva

The Action-Italia Viva delegation, which is part of the Renew Europe group, chose to abstain. On the Green Houses directive, that extra step we had asked for did not exist, which is why we abstained as an Italian delegation from the Third Pole. there was a lack of flexibility, especially on the implementation times of the directive, which we hope will be found later in the negotiations with the Council, say the MEPs Nicola Danti and Giosi Ferrandino.

Class D by 2033

The position of the European Parliament foresees that buildings reach at least the energy class E by 2030 and D by 2033 and absolute neutrality by 2050, on a scale ranging from A to G, the latter will correspond to 15% of buildings with the worst performance in the building stock of each individual Member State. Non-residential and public buildings will have to achieve the same objectives respectively by 2027 and 2030. Furthermore, the text approved by the European Parliament provides that performance improvement interventions energy costs must be carried out at the time of entry of a new tenant, or at the time of sale or renovation of the building.

The exceptions

The text approved by the EU Parliament provides for a series of exceptions. Monuments would be excluded from the new rules and individual states can decide whether to exclude buildings protected for their particular architectural or historical value, churches and places of worship. Member States can also provide for exemptions for public social housing, where refurbishments would lead to rent increases which would not be offset by the savings in utility bills.