28/04/2020
We assessed whether EU co-funded energy efficiency investments in buildings had cost-effectively helped the EU toward its 2020 energy saving target. We concluded that the operational programmes and the project selection were not driven by a cost-effectiveness rationale. While Member States required buildings to be renovated to save a minimum of energy and improve their energy rating, this sometimes happened at a high cost. Because of a lack of comparative assessment of project merits and of minimum/maximum thresholds for cost-effectiveness, projects delivering higher energy savings or other benefits at lower cost were not prioritised. We recommend improving the planning, selection and monitoring of the investments to improve the cost-effectiveness of the spending.
ECA special report pursuant to Article 287(4), second subparagraph, TFEU.
Special Report 11/2020: Energy efficiency in buildings: greater focus on cost-effectiveness still needed
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