The European Commission has launched new, coordinated efforts to put energy efficiency at the heart of European economic and energy strategies. As a first step, it hosted two major events yesterday: the first general meeting of the European Energy Efficiency Financing Coalition and a high-level stakeholder dialogue with EU industry leaders.

General Assembly of the European Energy Efficiency Financing Coalition

At the General Assembly, the founding members of the Financing Coalition – the European Commission, EU countries and leading financial institutions – confirmed their commitment to mobilise private capital for investment in energy efficiency. They approved a work programme for 2025 and outlined possible ways to promote more energy-efficient solutions in the EU industrial ecosystem, as well as actions to promote energy efficiency across the EU.

The work programme for the first year of the coalition’s existence has been designed to focus on actions to achieve the following specific objectives:

– Facilitating the mobilisation of private finance and increasing the effectiveness of public finance for energy efficiency objectives, including the 2030 energy efficiency target.

– Launching tripartite energy efficiency agreements.

– Launching and implementing Member States’ national hubs.

– Expanding membership to include new financial institutions and integrating the industrial sector into the Coalition’s activities.

One of the key priorities of the coalition is to establish national centres to identify barriers at national level and develop project pipelines and new platforms for efficiency investments to connect these projects with more accessible financing. The mandate and composition of the national hubs will be determined by each Member State.

Given that national hubs will operate at different speeds and carry out different activities, the Coalition aims to provide the necessary support to enable as many national hubs as possible to become operational, with the target of at least 15 national hubs being established by 2025. At least 15 national hubs should be established.

High-level dialogue with stakeholders

During the high-level dialogue with stakeholders, industry leaders and the Commission identified financial, technical and regulatory barriers that hinder more ambitious action on energy efficiency. Based on the outcome of these discussions, the Commission will examine how best to implement the recommendations aimed at removing barriers and catalysing investment.

Energy efficiency is already firmly positioned as a strategic lever for competitiveness, energy security and climate action in Europe. Energy efficiency not only helps to reduce energy bills and decarbonise our economy, but also contributes to moving Europe away from imports of Russian fossil fuels.

• Without the efficiency gains achieved over the last decades, energy consumption in the EU would be 27% higher today — equivalent to the energy consumption of France, the Netherlands, Austria and Finland combined.
• Every 1% improvement in energy efficiency leads to a 2.6% reduction in gas imports, while smarter use of energy, for example by avoiding peak consumption, could reduce future investment needs in the electricity grid by up to 35%.
• EU expenditure on fossil fuel imports is expected to fall by €33 billion by 2030 and €70 billion by 2040 through energy efficiency improvements alone.

Next steps

Looking ahead, the coalition will focus on putting its new structures in place and expanding its membership, particularly among industry. The national hubs are expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025. Continuous dialogue with industry will remain a priority, ensuring that changing needs and barriers are addressed with targeted policy, financial and technical responses.

At the same time, the Commission will continue to provide regulatory support to EU countries as they implement the EU directives on energy efficiency and the energy performance of buildings.

This renewed commitment to energy efficiency will continue during the energy efficiency events that will take place during the European Week for Sustainable Energy on 10-12 June 2025 and the IEA World Energy Efficiency Conference on 12-13 June 2025. Both events will bring together European and international leaders to reinforce the importance of energy efficiency for achieving global climate and energy goals.