10. DRAFT proposal
App. 7
to be presented by Hyresgästföreningen / Hans Dahlin
The International Union of Tenants' views on the European
Commission's Communication on Energy Union
Background
There is currently a clear ambition at the EU Commission to create an energy union. What
implications will this have for EU citizens and energy prices in Europe in the coming years?
Nobody knows - but here are some interesting facts:
-The electricity price in Italy is 140 % higher than in the Czech Republic
-The average electricity price in the Euro Area is 47 % higher than in France
-In the UK the energy taxes are very low (about 5%) while in Sweden energy taxes account for
about 40 % of the total electricity price
-The mean electricity price in the Euro Area is 0,22 EUR/kWh while it is 0,13 EUR/kWh in
Finland.
Source: Eurostat and The Swedish Energy for a medium sized consumer 5000-15000 kWh/yr in
2014)
The International Union of Tenants agrees with the EU Commission's overall vision for a
sustainable economy with low greenhouse gas emissions. IUT also believes that energy
cooperation within the EU must evolve with the citizens, i.e. energy consumers, at its core.
IUT believes that this cooperation should be done in a sustainable manner. For this to be
possible, IUT is of the opinion that:
 the COM needs to allow national adaptation of regulations,
 it is important that we have detailed cost benefits analyses of changes - with the consumer
in focus,
 an increase in public funding is necessary, and
 consumer involvement and participation is vital.
IUT emphasises that this is imperative in order to achieve energy markets that can deliver
sustainable and affordable energy to consumers and to minimize the risk of energy poverty.
IUT´s position:

National adaptation of the regulatory framework is important
It is clear that the 28 EU Member States have very different situations. Their energy
efficiency schemes differ, as do their needs and other preconditions for becoming part of
an integrated European market for electricity.
IUT believes that any new and changing EU directives should contain significant
opportunities for national adaptation. This, we believe, is crucial in order to achieve a
sustainable development of Europe's energy and climate performance, and to deliver
affordable energy to consumers and minimize the risk of energy poverty.
Some countries have a significant share of renewable energy already, while others do not.
In northern Europe there is a need for heating, and in the southern Europe there is a need
to cool buildings. The motivation for investing in energy efficiency schemes also differs a
lot across the EU. We believe that these and other differences are so vast that national
adaptation of regulatory framework is fundamental when European energy strategies are
developed.
2 (2)

The benefit of investment in the integrated European electricity market must
be proportionate to the cost
It is important to have a comprehensive, continuous and open analysis of the integrated
European electricity market. These analyses must put the energy consumer at its core.
It is important that the cost of investment in new transmission capacity, new technology
and so-called smart grids is proportionate to the benefit of consumers. The consequences
of not doing so are severe. If large investments are made that benefits the energy
consumer little or not at all, but lead to high increases in energy costs, this will lead to
more energy poverty.

Additional public funding is crucial for further energy efficiency and
increased investments in the development of the internal European
electricity market
Many energy efficiency measures are not cost effective from the property owner’s narrow
perspective. The International Union of Tenants believes, nevertheless, that from a
broader sustainability perspective more energy efficiency measures should be
implemented. It is then essential that the financing of these actions can be done in a
socially sustainable manner.
The International Union of Tenants therefore agrees with the European Commission's
analysis that further financial instruments are needed to achieve sustainable energy
efficiency in buildings.
The International Union of Tenants believes that public funding is necessary for
investments in the development of the internal electricity market in order to keep energy
costs at affordable levels for the consumer.

Consumer involvement and participation
The development of European energy markets will affect citizens in many different ways.
All the consequences are difficult, if not impossible, to predict. IUT therefore believes that
it is vital to include the consumers, in this context the residents, early in the process. Not
just consumer organizations but consumer groups with different social mixtures.
/President IUT
Text about IUT: