EU agrees to cut energy consumption by 11.7 percent by 2030

Brussels, March 10 (CTK correspondent) – The European Union should cut total final energy consumption by 11.7 percent by 2030 compared with the levels projected three years ago for the end of the decade. Agreed on this overnight were representatives of the member states and the European Parliament. They thus agreed on the terms of another set of rules in the climate package, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade. The rules must still be formally approved by both the member states and MEPs before they can enter into force.

The Energy Efficiency Directive is part of a set of rules known as Fit for 55, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. Under the version agreed today, member states should increase efficiency from 2024 and achieve savings that would bring total final energy consumption down by an average of 1.49 percent a year. The previous plan set the figure at 0.8 percent. According to calculations by EU institutions, the newly agreed overall target is equivalent to saving energy equivalent to 763 million tonnes of oil.