Europe needs an ‘energy savings first’ principle, says French think-tank

This article is part of our special report Closing the gap, how to advance energy efficiency for EU competitiveness and climate goals.

The EU needs a “savings first” principle that can complement its efficiency measures to help member states reach their climate targets while making the EU more resilient, argues French energy think-tank ‘négaWatt Association’. 

In a 2024 paper published in Nature, researchers argued that by 2050, Europe could reduce its energy demand by 50%, with 40% of this reduction coming from sufficiency measures. Such measures follow the concept of energy sufficiency, which aims at reducing the consumption of energy.

The research group argued that if the EU doesn’t implement such measures, it would lead to more pressure on supply-side changes and unproven carbon removal technologies.

“The EU acts as a catalyst for action on the European continent on transition issues. An EU strategy on sufficiency would spur change not only at the EU level, but also at the national and local level,” négaWatt European relations and policies manager Stephane Bourgeois told Euractiv.

Bourgeois explained that sufficiency needs to be considered from different sectors, focusing on policy gaps and overall potential, to fully reap its benefits. He said the EU currently doesn’t have a sufficiency strategy but needs one if any progress is to be made, which could also form the basis for more specific legislation.

Implementing principles

“This is how efficiency policies started back in the late 2000s, or circularity 10 years ago,” Bourgeois said, adding that eventually there should be a ‘sufficiency first’ or at least a ‘savings first’ principle in the EU.

“But the Energy Efficiency First principle already suffers from not being thoroughly implemented, so I guess we should remain realistic,” Bourgeois said.

This comes as the European Commission revealed last week that several member states are not providing information on their implementation of this energy efficiency principle. Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said the EU needs to do more to fast-track the benefits of the energy transition, cut energy demand, and improve energy efficiency.

According to Bourgeois, there are many sufficiency measures that can be promoted at the EU level. Considering transport, he said a greater shift toward rail and cycling could be made by introducing a frequent flyer levy and state aid rules supporting rail services.

Energy consultancy Enerdata outlined four dimensions of energy sufficiency in a presentation on energy sufficiency in the EU that it shared with Euractiv. These include dimensional and cooperative sufficiency, with the former referring to matching an energy service with the appropriate service.

Enerdata considers maximising the sharing of energy services, such as car sharing, to reduce consumption. Usage sufficiency focuses on reducing the duration, intensity or frequency of energy-intensive activities. They argue that organisational sufficiency is about organising spaces and activities to minimise the need for transportation and other resources.

Noting that strong sufficiency measures alongside efficiency levers are critical in reducing Europe’s energy demand, Enerdata says it’s also essential for the EU to reach carbon neutrality. The consultancy also observed that the concept of sufficiency has been gaining recognition, with the ‘Nature’ publication also being a key milestone.

CLEVER pathway to decarbonisation

The publication modelled scenarios for Europe based on the so-called Collaborative Low Energy Vision for the European Region (CLEVER) scenario, which describes overall reductions in final energy consumption at the European level. CLEVER’s creators say their scenario proposes an ambitious yet realistic decarbonisation pathway for Europe.

“[The publication] emphasises the crucial importance of sufficiency, in addition to efficiency and renewable energies, to achieve climate goals. It also presents the modelling methodology, the convergence of studies on the feasibility of this reduction, and the benefits of a reduced energy system,” they said.

Bourgeois said that in the medium-to-long term, sufficiency reduces the overall size of a system, and thus its overall costs. He added that in the short term, sufficiency can also reduce bills for consumers through measures such as increasing the quality and lifetime of products and introducing measures such as boiler insulation covers.

“I think that sufficiency may be the strongest facilitator or accelerator [toward the 2030 climate goals], because it is available today and can already provide savings in the short to medium term,” Bourgeois said.

[ Edited by Brian Maguire | Euractiv's Advocacy Lab ]