Irish Regions Office Website

January 17, 2009

Housing Energy Investment moves closer

Despite some remaining stumbling blocks which will require adjustment, the draft regulation brought forward by the Commission in early December that would allow Member States to make 'expenditure on energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy in existing housing in favour of low-income households' eligible for co-financing under the Structural Funds is now expected to clear the Council of Ministers, which until now has been hostile to the measure.

At present, only the newer Member States are allowed to use up to 2% of their total ERDF contribution to finance housing costs in this manner. Under the expected compromise, each Member State would be allowed employ an additional 4% of total ERDF contribution though this would not necessarily target social housing, as originally proposed.

EU housing ministers agreed last November to establish specific working groups to examine how some EU policies such as state aid impact on national housing policies. Ministers recommended that the Commission should:
- conduct a study on the cost of housing to household budgets and on the cost of poor housing and lack of housing:
- promote the spread within the housing sector of new technologies and building materials which use less energy;
- strengthen research programmes to increase energy efficiency, including in existing housing; and
- provide effective follow-up to social housing projects as part of the SAVE programme in order to highlight those initiatives which lead the way in energy efficiency.

Commission proposal:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/1874&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Posted by iroronan at January 17, 2009 10:56 AM