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10.3.2023

EN

Official Journal of the European Union
C 89/1

III
Preparatory acts
EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
of 16 January 2023
on a proposal for a Directive on the energy performance of buildings recast CON/2023/2
2023/C 89/01

Introduction and legal basis On 15 December 2021 the European Commission published a proposal for a Directive on the energy performance of buildings 1 hereinafter the proposed Directive.
The European Central Bank ECB has decided to deliver an own initiative opinion on the proposed Directive. The ECBs competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 1274 and 2825 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union TFEU and Article 25.1 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank hereinafter the Statute of the ESCB, in particular since the proposed Directive relates to a the basic task to be carried out through the European System of Central Banks ESCB to define and implement monetary policy pursuant to Article 1272 TFEU; b the ECBs tasks concerning the prudential supervision of credit institutions pursuant to Article 1276 TFEU; and c the ECBs contribution to the harmonisation, where necessary, of the rules and practices governing the collection, compilation and distribution of statistics in the areas within its fields of competence pursuant to Article 5.3 of the Statute of the ESCB. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.

1.

General observations
1.1. The ECB broadly supports the proposed Directive, which aims to increase the rate and depth of building renovations in the Union, to improve information on the energy performance of buildings and to ensure that all buildings are in line with the Unions climate goals. The proposed Directive will not only contribute to the Unions climate goals, but will also support the Unions efforts to ensure energy security. By addressing barriers to renovation and setting targets towards improving the energy efficiency of buildings, the proposed Directive will contribute to reducing the Unions reliance on fossil fuels and lowering demand for natural gas, Furthermore, it will make households and companies more resilient to energy price surges by lowering energy consumption of buildings and will, in the medium to long-term, help reduce price sensitivity to volatility in fossil fuel prices. In addition, the proposed Directive brings more certainty to the pace and timeline of the Unions sustainable transition, in a manner that can be taken into account by credit institutions and financial institutions in their decisions on portfolio allocations and medium-term financing.

1.2. The ECB welcomes the proposed Directives aim to improve access to energy performance certificates EPCs across the Union. The proposed measures would ensure full access to EPCs for financial institutions, addressing the significant challenges regarding access to this information that credit institutions, in particular, and financial institutions, more generally, are currently facing. These measures would allow credit institutions and financial institutions to improve the climate-related transition risk assessments of their real estate assets. Such improvement is 1 COM2021 802 final.