Attorney Barbora Balunová, an expert in energy law, claims that the current energy crisis has radically streamlined and accelerated the adoption of legislative measures and steps taken by European administrations towards the fulfillment of these fundamental goals. Slovakian legislation thus faces another green challenge. Successfully implement a new European directive that defines specific emission reduction indicators for individual climate zones within Europe by 2027.

In the second half of 2023, a fundamental EU directive on energy efficiency was adopted. What does the directive oblige the member states to do?

The directive introduces very bold and strict measures that have not yet been legislated. Its adoption was preceded by a demanding and lengthy legislative process, as the EU cared about the detailed and technical content of this directive. The Union has very precisely determined specific emission reduction indicators for specific climate zones within Europe, as well as the deadlines by which they must be achieved. Due to the relatively high accuracy, it could be a regulation. One of the most important legislative requirements of this directive concerns precisely energy efficiency - namely buildings, technologies in them, appliances that we use in homes or at the workplace. The EU deliberately chose the directive and requires its implementation into national law, taking into account the wide variety of measures that member states can choose to achieve the required level of energy savings and efficiency.

What is the timeline for achieving these set goals?

According to the new directive, we should meet the first milestones and goals as early as 2027, while it should be precisely the buildings that are owned by the state, municipalities or public institutions. With these entities, it is necessary to expect a lengthy public procurement process. The deadline cannot be postponed for reasons such as the cancellation of the supplier's procurement. Despite its fundamental importance, this directive remained almost unnoticed by the public in our country. Perhaps precisely because of the nature of the directive, which in principle is not directly binding as a regulation. Alternatively, due to the typical two-year period left for its implementation into national law. However, the clear terms and indicators already mentioned are already precisely determined today.

You can find this interview in Hospodárske noviny: The energy crisis radically made the adoption of green measures more effective