Failure to comply with Article 8 of the European Energy Efficiency Directive by December 2019 could see EU companies hit with fines of up to EUR 1 million
ANTWERP, Belgium - 11 July 2018 – DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body, has today warned that over 45,000* businesses risk fines of up to €1 million, if they fail to comply with Article 8 of the European Energy Efficiency Directive, by the deadline of 5 December 2019.
The legislation requires all large enterprises - with at least 250 employees, or annual revenues over EUR 50 million and an annual balance sheet of over EUR 43 million to comply with the national energy audit obligation, including calculating their total energy consumption and identifying saving opportunities across their estate, every four years.
Organisations with multiple operations across Europe must meet the legislative requirements in each EU Member State they operate in. All 28 countries have their own specific audit requirements, often only available in local language, which makes reaching compliance complex.
The previous compliance date of 5 December 2015, saw thousands of firms fail to submit sufficient documentation and evidence to satisfy the regulators. In the UK alone the Environment Agency said it has gone through 2,800 of those organisations that said they would be late and issued around 50 enforcement notices.
To support businesses through the process, DNV GL has launched a new online tool, MEET8, that allows organisations to easily and quickly collect all the data necessary to self-assess their compliance. The tool automatically generates compliance reports, listing the energy audit requirements, scopes and exemptions for each EU country where the organisation operates.
Speaking about the tool, Prajeev Rasiah, Executive Vice President for DNV GL’s energy business in North Europe, Middle East & Africa said: “Since each of the 28 EU member states has different compliance requirements, submitting the correct information can be a cumbersome task. To simplify the process, our tool gives businesses access to a single knowledge hub of comprehensive information and policy experts who have deep knowledge of the regulatory variations and timescale requirements for all 28 Member States.”
“This new online tool takes the stress out of compliance and ensures organisations are prepared with the most up to date trusted information, to enable them to build their own action plan without compromising on reliability and accuracy” added Al-Karim Govindji, Director, Sustainable Energy Use Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa at DNV GL.
*Data from Eurostat - Annual enterprise statistics by size class for special aggregates of activities
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