the european parliament and the council of the european union

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 175 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, where several codes exist in the same Member State, Only one code has been chosen. In some cases, regional codes are stricter than national codes.

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty,

Whereas:

1. (1) Article 6 of the Treaty requires environmental protection requirements to be integrated into the definition and implementation of Community policies and actions.

2. (2) The natural resources, to whose prudent and rational utilisation Article 174 of the Treaty refers, include oil products, natural gas and solid fuels, which are essential sources of energy but also the leading sources of carbon dioxide emissions.

3. (3) Increased energy efficiency constitutes an important part of the package of policies and measures needed to comply with the Kyoto Protocol, and should appear in any policy package to meet further commitments.

4. (4) Demand management of energy is an important tool enabling the Community to influence the global energy market and hence the security of energy supply in the medium and long term.

5. (5) The Council in its Conclusions of 30 May 2000 and of 5 December 2000 endorsed the Commission's Action Plan on Energy Efficiency and requested specific measures in the building sector.

6. (6) The residential and tertiary sector, the major part of which is buildings, accounts for more than 40% of final energy consumption in the Community and is expanding, a trend which is bound to increase its energy consumption and hence also its carbon dioxide emissions.

7. […]