The implementation of Euro Star in the European Union

Information and communication
technologies (ICT), including office equipment (i.e. computers, displays,
imaging equipment, servers etc.), are one of the fastest growing electricity
end-users in the EU and worldwide. Existing technologies allowing significant
decreases in power consumption are not fully implemented because of persistent
market failures, such as lack of information or split incentives.

The increasing energy consumption of
office equipment and the global nature of the ICT market provide a strong
rationale for international regulatory cooperation in this domain. It is
against this background that the EU and the US signed an Agreement on the
coordination of energy-efficiency labelling programmes for office equipment, OJ
L 381, 28.12.2006, p. 26 (hereafter the ‘Agreement') in December 2000. The
Agreement, which was renewed in 2006 for a second 5-year period, provides the basis
for the implementation of the ENERGY STAR programme in the EU (hereafter ‘the
programme'). ENERGY STAR is a voluntary energy-efficiency labelling programme
run by the US Environment Protection Agency (hereafter ‘EPA'). It is
implemented in several other economies, including Japan, Canada and Australia,
through agreements similar to that with the EU.

On the basis of the Agreement, the
EPA and the Commission jointly manage the ENERGY STAR programme for office
equipment. ENERGY STAR is an integral part of the EU's energy efficiency policy
as set out in the Action Plan for Energy Efficiency, COM (2006) 545 final. It
aims to ‘pull' the office equipment market up towards greater efficiency and
thus complements the Eco design Directive 2009/125/EC, OJ L 285, 31.10.2009, p.
10., which acts to ‘push' the market through mandatory or voluntary minimum
efficiency requirements.

As the Agreement expired in December
2011, this communication assesses the merits of its possible renewal on the
basis of:

– Experience in the implementation of
the programme in the EU

– An assessment of the effectiveness
of the programme in improving the energy efficiency of office

equipment

– Planned modifications to the US
Energy Star programme

The programme has been implemented in
the EU by Council Decision 2006/1005/EC, OJ L 381, 28.12.2006, p. 24 and by
Regulation (EC) No 106/2008 on a Community energy-efficiency labelling
programme for office equipment, OJ L 39, 13.02.2008, p. 1

Further
information about related documentation can be found: http://www.mccaa.org.mt/en/consultations