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The European Commission is asking the Court of
Justice of the European Union (ECJ) in Luxembourg to apply a
penalty of 96,720 euros ($131,900) against Poland and 39,593
euros against Austria for every day they do not comply with EU
law.
The European Union aims to cut Europe's annual primary energy
consumption by 20 percent by 2020. Buildings account for about
40 percent of that consumption and more than a third of EU
carbon-dioxide emissions, it says.
The EU directive says member states must establish and apply
energy performance requirements for all buildings, ensure
certification of buildings' energy performance and require the
regular inspection of heating and air-conditioning systems.
The directive - which was meant to be transposed into national
law by July 2012 - also says member states must ensure that by
2021 all new buildings are nearly zero-energy, meaning they use
roughly the same amount of energy as they create.
The Commission asked the ECJ to apply similar fines against
Belgium and Finland in April, and is also examining the
situation in Slovenia, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and
the Czech Republic. [ID:nL6N0N82LK]
If the ECJ finds in favor of the Commission, the daily penalty
will be applied from the date of the court's judgment until the
country has complied with EU law. The court has the power to
decide on the precise amount of any fine.
($1 = 0.7331 euros)
(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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