As of: March 12, 2024, 2:15 p.m
By: Lars-Eric Nievelstein
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The EU Parliament is voting on new renovation requirements for buildings today.
A formal agreement had already been reached in December.
What does this mean for homeowners?
Brussels – The overarching goal is clear.
Buildings in the European Union should be climate neutral by 2050.
A formal agreement in December had split the target somewhat.
By 2030, energy consumption in residential buildings is expected to fall by an average of 16 percent, and by a further maximum of 22 percent by 2035.
New guidelines now apply to homeowners.
EU Parliament agrees on requirements for renovation
In the course of the discussion, the EU member states quickly came up with an obligation to renovate buildings.
The thought process behind it is simple: there are a lot of buildings within the confederation that are not energy efficient.
In order to change that, there should be some compulsion.
By 2030, 16 percent of the least energy-efficient buildings would need to be renovated.
By 2033 it should be 26 percent.
As
Focus Online
reported, such an obligation is now actually coming – but only for non-residential buildings.
Apartments in Düsseldorf (symbolic image).
The EU Parliament is voting on new renovation requirements for buildings today.
A formal agreement had already been reached in December.
What does this mean for homeowners?
© IMAGO / Michael Gstettenbauer
The federal government had previously spoken out in favor of such an obligation.
However, she moved away from this again due to the debate about the Building Energy Act.
There was clear criticism of such a decision simply because of the high costs that would have been incurred for homeowners.
There was even talk of a “quiet expropriation”.
The owners' association Haus & Grund had also predicted a dramatic loss in value, which would have particularly affected older buildings.
The EU Commission said that the renovations would ensure a significant reduction in energy consumption in the long term.
That in turn would have saved money.
No obligation to renovate residential buildings
The EU's chief negotiator Ciarán Cuffe gave the all-clear regarding the restructuring obligation.
There should be no obligation to renovate individual buildings owned by homeowners.
However, the European Union now only provides the framework - how the law is implemented in the individual states is, as always, up to the countries.
In our case, after the EU Parliament's decision, the ball is in the federal government's court.
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They could decide to achieve the sustainability goals set in other ways.
The requirement to reduce the energy consumption of residential buildings by a set value could also be achieved by further upgrading buildings that are already well insulated or energy efficient.
The Ministry of Construction does not yet have any more precise plans as to what effects the EU law will have on Germany.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs now wants to examine the need for implementation.
The Haus & Grund association was relieved that there should be no renovation obligations for homeowners.
“This is a good result.
It gives homeowners the flexibility they need to convert their buildings to be climate-neutral by 2045,” explained Haus & Grund President Kai Warnecke.
“Nevertheless, homeowners in Germany and throughout Europe are facing enormous challenges.” There is no need for further “regulatory measures,” said Warnecke.
Instead, the government must use CO₂ pricing with the revenue returned to citizens “in the form of climate money”.
Environmental groups criticize the abandonment of coercion
The German Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), on the other hand, wanted stricter requirements for very poorly developed and inefficient buildings.
The more energy buildings use, for example due to outdated construction, the more they fuel the climate crisis and energy poverty, criticized Irmela Colaço, building expert at BUND.
Similar words came from the German Nature Conservation Association (NABU).
“Especially in poorly renovated buildings, people with low incomes often live who also have to struggle with high energy costs,” NABU President Jörg-Andreas Krüger was quoted by the Tagesschau as saying.
The new EU law is part of a wide range of measures related to the “Fit for 55” climate package.
This aims to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990.