Irish Green MEP Ciarán Cuffe struck a deal with the negotiating team for the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) last night. MEP Cuffe built a strong majority of all the major political groups to agree to this deal, as lead negotiator (rapporteur) on this law. Next week, the Parliament’s energy committee will vote on this deal and if approved, it will proceed to a vote by all 705 MEPs at the Strasbourg plenary session in March.

In reaction to the night’s events, MEP Cuffe said: “I am delighted to have reached a deal to bring to the Parliament’s energy committee next week, after many months of negotiations. The EPBD has enormous potential to bring down energy bills for good, to address the root causes of energy poverty, to reduce emissions, and to deliver high-quality, local green jobs across the European economy. This deal is the first step towards realising this potential.It is a testament to the hard work and commitment of my team and the broader negotiating team that we have been able to reach an ambitious deal at this early stage. It is also crucially important that all of the major political groups have signed on, because it strengthens our hand as we look towards negotiations with the EU governments. We will protect the achievements made in this deal as we look towards the Parliament votes in February and March.”

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) recast charts a course for the EU to achieve a climate neutral building stock by 2050. Buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of Europe’s energy consumption and 36% of its CO2 emissions. Soaring energy prices have put the focus on energy efficiency and saving measures and the potential of buildings to exploit local renewables to continuously reduce energy bills, increase the resilience and competitiveness of the energy system and reduce energy import dependency.