Energy Performance Contracts for Governements: the Two faces of Europe

Abstract

In recent years, various energy-saving initiatives have been adopted at the EU level, with the goal of mitigating climate change and reducing the European Union’s dependence on external sources of energy. The Energy Efficiency Directive of 25 October 2012 is explicitly targeted at increasing the use of this tool by governments in order to achieve better energy performance. Improvements in energy performance (e.g. for buildings) often require substantial investments on the part of the government. To date, however, the manner in which this type of contracts should be treated within the budget and in light of the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010), as currently interpreted, is not very attractive. For the time being, therefore, the future of the use of EPC by governments appears less than promising. This article elaborates on the budgetary obstacles for a broad use of EPC for public buildings within the EU.