Foreign Investors: Romania has the third most energy intensive economy in the EU, measures needed for energy efficiency

Romania lags behind other European countries when it comes to applying energy efficiency measures, and it has plenty of room for improvement, warn the foreign investors in the country, via the foreign Investors Council – FIC. A recent study issued by FIC found Romania ranks third among the most energy – intensive European Union countries, which means Romania uses more energy resources to generate its Gross Domestic Product than most other EU countries. “The cheapest energy is and will always be the one which is not used. Encouraging energy efficiency will offer Romania many opportunities: more industrial consumers will be able to optimize their production and stay competitive; household consumers will have the option to significantly reduce the effect of their energy bills on family budgets and energy companies will be able to innovate and create a new market in Romania, which we hope will stay sustainable for decades to come,” said Eric Stab, vice-president of FIC and head of the Energy Task Force within the council, as well as Chairman & CEO at GDF SUEZ Energy Romania. The Foreign Investors Council is also asking for decisions concerning the policies for implementing the new European Directive on energy efficiency, with Romania tasked with establishing a series of realistic objectives and balanced policies. The new Energy Efficiency Directive adopted in 2012 features an indicative EU target of 20 percent energy savings by 2020. The European Directive should be fully transposed into national legislation by the end of June, 2014. The full FIC presentation here. The FIC includes 124 member companies,whose investments in the country add up to some EUR 34 billion, which is two thirds of foreign investment in Romania since 1990. editor@romania-insider.com