Negotiators of the European Parliament and the Council agreed late yesterday night on revised energy efficiency labelling. Current labels with a scale from A+++ to G will be replaced by labels with a unified A to G scale for most household products. The Socialists and Democrats Group had been pushing for a quicker replacement of the old labels against resistance from the EPP and some member states who wanted to protect inefficient industries.

S&D spokesperson on energy efficiency labelling, MEP Martina Werner, said:

“85% of consumers check the energy efficiency labels before buying a product. Having the best performing products in the A + to A+++ category was misleading consumers into believing that the least performing product was actually good.

“The new labels A to G will be much clearer and make it easier for consumers to make energy smart decisions. Thanks to the new energy labelling, households could save hundreds of euros in energy bills every year.  The deal reached last night is good news for consumers and strengthens energy efficiency policies.

“Finally, energy labelling has caught up with technological progress. In addition to the paper labels, there will be a public database giving consumers a better tool to compare the energy efficiency of products.

“With the new law, lessons from Dieselgate have been learnt: The use of defeat devices is clearly banned and the real-life performance of a product must match that of its label.”
 
Note to the editor: Following yesterday’s agreement in the trilogue, the Parliament as a whole and the Council still need to adopt the text formally before the legislation enters into force.