German boiler ‘culture war’ looms large over EU buildings directive

As final talks on the EU’s buildings directive kick off in Brussels, advocates of an ambitious reform are warning against a repeat of Germany’s boiler war that risks hindering ambitious climate action.

Buildings consume 40% of the EU’s final energy, mostly in the form of polluting heating fuels such as coal, oil and gas, which are together responsible for a third of total EU greenhouse gas emissions.

Reducing those emissions to zero has become a central part of EU plans to become a climate neutral continent by 2050. 

To tackle this challenge, the European Commission tabled a reform of the EU’s energy performance of building directive (EPBD), which mandates renovations for the 15% worst-insulated structures in order to reduce their energy consumption.

“Its focus on the worst performing buildings prioritises the most cost-effective renovations and helps fight energy poverty,” said EU climate chief Frans Timmermans when he presented the proposal in December 2021.

The reform is now in the home stretch, with closed-door talks started in June between the European Parliament and EU member states. While Parliament favours an ambitious approach with mandatory renovations for the worst-insulated homes, EU countries argue that building stock averages would suffice.

However, proponents of an ambitious reform are becoming increasingly nervous in the face of growing resistance.

“We need to get the broader public on board,” said Claude Turmes, Luxembourg’s energy minister and former EU lawmaker, who spoke to an industry crowd in Brussels on Wednesday (21 June).

If the general public is not behind the reform, it risks creating a split akin to the fossil heating row in Germany, Turmes added, warning that this would make the EU buildings directive a lightning rod for “a cultural civil war”.

EU bulidings directive in FDP’s firing line

In Germany, a controversial plan to ban new fossil heating systems caused a multi-month government meltdown, with the liberal FDP party putting its veto on the planned boiler ban. The row spilt over into Brussels when leading tabloid Bild warned of EU plans to ban new fossil heating systems from 2029.

A compromise was finally reached last week to solve the German government blockade. But the initial resolution of the German domestic debate may have repercussions for the EU buildings directive, too.

The liberal FDP party, the junior partner in the German government’s three-party coalition, has singled out the EU’s buildings directive as its next target.

“The German government should lobby in Europe against all regulations that go beyond this law, in particular compulsory renovation [EPBD] and a ban on the sale of combustion heaters,” reads the compromise paper published by the business-friendly FDP.

Imposing such kinds of measures in the EU has now become “almost impossible” because of the German boiler “culture war,” Turmes warned, saying greater public support was badly needed to pass the law.

“We have to take a step back and just say okay, what are the preconditions to get the broader public really interested,” he told the Brussels crowd.

EU Parliament agrees position on buildings law despite pushback

The European Parliament approved its stance on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) on Tuesday (14 March), setting out a more ambitious position ahead of negotiations with EU countries.

Welcome to Bavaria

Another factor in the negotiations is the Bavarian state elections, which are due to be held in the Autumn.

Ahead of the election, the conservative party of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has become a target for the FDP who accused her of pushing through mandatory renovations on German homeowners without their consent.

Martin Hagen, the FDP’s lead candidate for the election, said on Monday (19 June) that von der Leyn was plotting to pass legislation that “goes far beyond the German law, namely the Eco-Design Directive and the threatened compulsory renovation”.

According to Hagen, whose party is battling to make it past the 5% threshold to enter the state parliament, the individual-country approach of the buildings directive is deeply flawed, and should instead look at EU averages.

“Since Germany has already made great progress in recent years, the Germans would be punished for having already done a lot in the past,” he argued.

“Because buildings that are objectively better insulated than buildings in other countries would still be subject to this compulsory renovation,” the FDP politician added. “From our point of view, that must not happen under any circumstances.”

Bavaria’s conservatives, the CSU, are polling above 40% and were among the key opponents of the buildings directive in parliament.

The conservative CDU, who starkly opposed the German boiler law, have not taken a stance yet on the EU buildings directive. It remains to be seen whether they will jump on the bandwagon or not.

Berlin considers withdrawing support for EU buildings directive

Government infighting in Berlin could see Germany abandon a mandatory renovation principle in the EU’s buildings directive ahead of final negotiations in Brussels.

[Edited by Frédéric Simon and Nathalie Weatherald]

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