BusinessEurope, a lobbying group representing 41 leading industrial and employers’ federations from 35 European countries – including the Confederation of British Industry, is lobbying against the European Union Energy Efficiency Directive’s targets for industry to reduce its energy consumption.
A blog by Per Meilstrup on GreenBiz.com reports that “Business Europe has strong ties to some of Europe’s most powerful industry players, including German industry organization BDI and ‘old’ energy-intensive industry sectors like automakers, cement, steel and paper.”
According to a BusinessEurope Press Release, Director General Philippe de Buck said: “We have been calling on the EU to devise a policy which incentivises energy efficiency. Regrettably, the current compromise package does not match what industry expects from our legislators. We need a flexible not a bureaucratic directive, and above all one which does not confuse energy efficiency with prescriptions on cutting energy consumption”. In other words, BusinessEurope doesn’t want legislation which will require the industries it represents to cut their energy consumption.
BusinessEurope’s February 2010 discussion paper, Is consuming less being more efficient? Implication on setting an energy efficiency target calls for “… EU policy makers to restructure and express the indicative EU 20% energy efficiency target in such a way that…it guarantees that European industry will not be confronted with obligations for an absolute reduction of energy consumption.”
BusinessEurope lobbying seminar on EU energy efficiency directive
Per Meilstrup’s blog reports that “aggressive lobbying” by BusinessEurope has successfully stymied the EU’s plans for a “Roadmap 2050” to include a 30% emissions reduction target against 1990 levels.
Per Meilstrup also states that last February, Business Europe provided “support in the Brussels corridors” for Poland’s “veto of a proposal by the other 26 member states to set interim CO2 reduction targets on the way to an 85% reduction in 2050.”