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ALDE MEP Fiona Hall (UK, Liberal Democrats), who took part in the negotiations with Member States on the Energy Efficiency Directive on behalf of the Liberals and Democrats, has welcomed the deal brokered last night. Commenting on the deal, she said: "Although the text in Article 6 on the energy efficiency obligation schemes is not as strong as the Parliament wanted, it is an important achievement that for the first time ever Member States will have to have a long term strategy with policy and measures in place for dealing with the energy efficiency of their buildings. "In addition, the Parliament secured an early review of the deal in 2016 including of the exemptions that currently weaken Article 6. "Thanks to the changes insisted upon by the Parliament, the directive will now achieve 17% of the 20% energy efficiency savings needed by 2020 - as compared to less than 15% before last night.

Denmark's Parliament has passed the most ambitious green economy plan in the world: it will generate 35% of its energy from renewable energy by 2020 and 100% by 2050.

The programme I am setting out today has been arrived at after active engagement with our external partners. A key theme to emerge from this process has been that these partners believe that although the regime is generally fit for purpose, there are things we can improve. This confirms the Department’s belief that the building regulations should remain the national minimum standard that building work should comply with. While much of the programme of work is deregulatory in nature, it will, however, include work to deliver our commitment to increase energy efficiency through part L (conservation of fuel and power). This will represent our next steps towards zero-carbon buildings and will also provide an opportunity to consider provisions for the existing stock in the light of the Government’s emerging policies on reducing carbon emissions, including the green deal. We will also explore how better to ensure high levels of compliance.

Set against this there are a number of key areas where we want to explore the potential for deregulation and streamlining of the existing provisions. In particular, representations made to Government demonstrate concern with the costs imposed on electricians by part P (electrical safety—dwellings). We believe it is now time to evaluate the building regulations’ contribution to the safety outcomes they were intended to support and, if we are to retain regulation of this kind, how we might minimise the associated costs.