Brussels, 23 June 2016 - In advance of a European Parliament vote today on EU Energy Efficiency Directive targets, representatives from the Parliament, Commission and incoming Slovak presidency joined the EU chemical industry at a Cefic workshop to share perspectives on challenges and opportunities for an energy efficient Europe.

MEP Markus Pieper led the discussions by stating that although the EU is an example for climate ambitions worldwide, it should be taken into account that investing in improvements to increase efficiency is resource intensive. EU countries agreed during a 2014 Summit, that energy efficiency targets should reach at least 27% or greater by 2030. According to Pieper, binding targets could hinder EU growth and innovation since most EU companies are SMEs with finite resources.

Marco Mensink, Director General of Cefic stated “Cefic supports a single energy and climate target addressing GHG emissions. Energy efficiency and renewable energy are important instruments in delivering this objective.” Since EU chemical companies are major producers and innovators of energy efficiency materials for other industries and society – such as lightweight material for cars, insulation for housing and battery technology - efforts to increase energy efficiency will open new business opportunities. In this light, Mr. Mensink added, “It’s important that stakeholders focus this debate on the market and innovation opportunities that will be stimulated by the eventual Directive revision.”

The consensus during the event is that through minimum standard setting, energy efficiency legislation has stimulated voluntary energy efficiency investment with great results – the EU chemical industry, for example, has cut its energy intensity by over half since 1990, beyond EU targets. Cefic looks to the revision of the Directive, which will advance during October this year via highly anticipated EU Commission proposals, to keep this positive momentum.

• Click here to see the event image gallery
• A highlights video from the event will be shared in due course.

For enquiries: Dervla Gleeson, Cefic Media Relations Manager (dgl@cefic.be)

About Cefic: Cefic – the EU chemical industry council – is the voice of over 29,000 chemical companies in Europe. We represent over 1.2 million jobs in Europe. www.cefic.org