DEESME report D2.4 provides guidelines for national authorities to overcome challenges on Art. 8 EED

Which are the main challenges national authorities may face when implementing Article 8 of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED)?

DEESME D2.4 report identifies 11. Six of them have a focus on non-small and medium-sized enterprises (non-SMEs) requirements according to Article 8 EED, and the remaining four with have focus on encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In addition, the potential benefits of considering non-energy benefits (NEBs) of energy efficiency are also covered. For each of the challenges found, the report describes sub-challenges as well as the specific corresponding solution strategies.

The document provides a separate page dedicated to each solution strategy, in which there is a checklist that may support the reflection of NAs, as well as good practice examples intended as inspiration. Further information on the country practices is also provided via links to external sources. The main outcomes related to the report are:

  • An interactive guidance document on overcoming challenges in the implementation of Article 8 EED for national authorities in the MS was developed:
    • It covers 11 main challenges identified earlier in the project; these both cover requirements from Art. 8 to SMEs and non-SMEs; in addition, they also address non-energy benefits of energy efficiency;
    • The challenges are broken down into 28 aspects for which 55 solutions strategies with best practice examples from EU-28 are suggested.
  • Many successful and innovative solutions in dealing with Article 8 of the EED already exist throughout Europe, which can serve as inspiration for other MS, for example:
    • Digitalisation of the audit submission process to alleviate the effort for companies and facilitate data processing for national authorities,
    • A variety of automated tools are in use to encourage the uptake of measures by proposing suitable funding schemes, comparing EMS products, or offering sectoral benchmarking services,
    • Visual guidelines and elaborate FAQ sections clarify what is expected from both companies and auditors during the auditing and reporting process.