Sweden will assume the EU Presidency later this week, at the beginning of July, with the Member State already indicating that it plans to put energy efficiency legislation amidst its priorities. The EU is currently beginning a review of process of the EU energy efficiency action plan, initiated by the Commission recently, and Sweden has already earmarked 23-25 July, when there will be an informal meeting of energy and environment Ministers, to begin discussions.
 
One of its biggest tasks in this respect is to make the 20% increase in energy efficiency by 2020, agreed in the energy and climate change package, legally binding. It was the only target in the package not to be made a legal commitment, and many have looked towards the Swedish Presidency to at least make progress on the issue, if not to achieve the goal of making the target binding.
 
Before the end of its Presidency, Sweden also hopes to reach an agreement with the European Parliament on key energy-efficiency proposals mapped out in the Commission's Second Strategic Energy Review in November 2008. The country has targeted December 7th, when energy Ministers will meet, as the deadline for reaching such an agreement, indicating it would not necessarily wait for a Common Position with Council for this move.
 
There will be several hard nuts to crack along the road however, with disagreement amongst Member States on various pieces of legislation. EU countries are for example at odds over proposals for the energy efficiency of buildings directive, with MEPs calling for all buildings built after 2019 to produce as much energy on site as they consume. Many fear such plans would have too high an administrative burden to implement.
 
Another area where Sweden will have its work cut out, is on energy-labelling of consumer goods, with a split between those who favour the Commission’s proposal to introduce a new category to the  ‘A’ class of the existing A-G format, whilst others have backed the Parliament’s rejection of this new system.
 
CECED (European Committee of Domestic Equipment Manufacturers) has welcomed the intended progress of Sweden on energy efficiency, with its  Director-General Luigi Meli saying ‘Targeted incentives can encourage the uptake of the top energy-efficient technology. Early and better appliance replacement is environmentally and socially justified, because it will reward those who achieve above standard results in manufacturing and those who use the top energy-efficient products’.
 
Sweden will take over from the Czech Republic on 1 July, with several important dates taking place while it holds the Presidency. The Commission plans to present the revised Energy Saving Action Plan in November, whilst the result of efforts to make energy efficiency targets legally binding will precede the Copenhagen COP-15 summit, which takes place in December.