Directives on energy efficiency such as the EED or the EPBD trigger a great variety of policies throughout EU Member States. The effort put into developing and implementing these policies is well documented in existing NEEAPs. Soon, emphasis will be put on finding out how effective they were to create new policies that allow meeting current and future energy savings targets. Unfortunately, several barriers limit policy evaluation. This results in a lack of quantitative data, and impedes evidence-based analysis required to distinguish effective from ineffective policies. EPATEE aims at tackling this problem by raising the capacity of policymakers and implementers to assist Members States to fulfil their obligation under energy related Directives. The project will provide them both with tools and with practical knowledge to make effective impact evaluation an integral part of the policy cycle. EPATEE makes use of existing evaluation experiences in a range of instruments, such as energy efficiency obligation schemes, regulations, financial incentives and voluntary agreements. Lessons learnt from other EU initiatives and good practices in how to successfully evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of such energy efficiency policies will provide the basis for the development of guidelines and good practice evaluation tools. A set of 20 to 30 tools enabling state-of-the-art evaluation will be developed and integrated into a smart online toolbox, which interactively assists users in picking the most relevant tool for their specific need. This guidance material provides the basis for the most important aspect of EPATEE: target-oriented experience sharing and capacity building. Findings will be discussed together with policymakers through peer-learning workshops, webinars, direct consulting, and other means of communication and dissemination. All activities will strive at realizing synergies with other EU projects such as ODYSEEE-MURE, ENSPOL, MultEE and the CA EED.

A consortium led by the Austrian Energy Agency (AEA) developed the project "Uptake of Solid Bioenergy in European Commercial Sectors (Industry, Trade, Agricultural and Service Sectors) – Bioenergy for Business" for the EU-Programme Horizon 2020’s Call 2014 (LCE14). The project partners include a combination of energy agencies, national biomass associations and research-oriented partners with specialized knowledge on biomass from Northern, Southern, Central and Eastern Europe (Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, European Biomass Association (AEBIOM), Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Greece, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine). The goal of this project is to support and promote the (partial) substitution of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) used for heating, by available bioenergy sources (industrial wastes, forest biomass, straw and other agricultural biomass) in the partner countries and beyond. In this context, the project will contribute to increase much-needed security of energy supply through lower dependence on fossil fuels from politically volatile sources. Target groups are, on the one hand, owners and operators of industrial heating plants (for private or district heating). On the other hand, actors who play an important role with regard to the value chain and to framework conditions crucial for the use of bioenergy heat will also be involved. Activities will be tailored to the needs of actors relevant to promising market segments in the industrial, commercial, services and agriculture sectors. Results of the project will include information about market potentials, capacity building/training, decision-support tools and communication activities targeted at relevant stakeholder, tools to support the careful assessment, planning and implementation of such projects, and dissemination of “best-practice” business models. Additionally, information about “best practice” support measures and policies will be made available.

The 'Concerted Action EPBD IV', supporting transposition and implementation of Directive 2010/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings, is an activity which aims to foster exchange of information and experience among Member States and participating countries with regards to the implementation of the specific Community legislation and policy on the energy performance of buildings. It involves the national authorities implementing the Directive, or those bodies appointed and entrusted by them to do so. It is carried out under the coordination of Danish Energy Agency, DEA. The CA consortium is composed of organisations designated by all 28 Member States plus Norway. The CA is financed by the EU's Horizon 2020 Programme. The CA is the continuation of the first Concerted Action, CA EPBD, which ran from January 2005 to June 2007, then continued as the CA EPBD II from December 2007 until November 2010 and then CA EPBD III from March 2011 to October 2015. The CA IV will organise 4 CA Plenary meetings and some supporting activities over a period 30 months or approximately one meeting every 7-8 months, similar to the CA III. The work will be organised in Central Teams, which includes: a) 3 Core Teams on 'New Buildings', 'Existing Buildings' and 'Certification & Quality of Inspection'; b) 3 Cross-Cutting teams on 'Technical Elements', 'Policy & Implementation' and 'Compliance, Capacity & Impact'; c) 2 central functions on 'Collaboration with other actors' and 'Internal & External Communication'; and some additional functions and supporting measures. For each Central Team, issues are addressed on which the Directive does not require harmonised national implementation but where coordinated implementation would increase the impact of the Directive and reduce the implementing costs.

The objective of the 3rd Concerted Action on the Energy Efficiency Directive (CA EED3) is to foster exchange of information and experience among Member States and other participating countries (Norway) with a view to facilitating the implementation of the Directive of 2018/2002 amending Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on energy efficiency (EED), including the implementation of the foreseen recast of this Directive . The Action follows on from the CA ESD, CA EED and CA-EED 2 which has helped MS with the interpretation of the legislation, the implementation options and support via detailed information and access to experts on mature policies and practices. The specific objectives of the Action are: • To enhance and structure the sharing of information and experiences from national implementation whilst promoting good practice concepts in activities to improve and strengthen MS implementation of the EED. • To encourage dialogue between MS on common approaches for the effective implementation of particular parts of the EED and synergies with RED and EPBD. • To complement the work of the EED Committee assisting the European Commission. The expected impact of the Action consists of a more harmonized approach and improved implementation of the EED in MS, as well as the transfer of good practices between countries and strengthened cross fertilisation with CA EPBD and CA RES. The CA EED3 brings together a unique group of experts and policy makers, it is the only informal group with full representation of all Member States and Norway and by its very nature provides MS, DG Energy and CINEA with a unique opportunity to communicate in an informal way on a technical level with relevant experts. The Concerted Action community has developed during the course of the CA ESD, CA EED and CA-EED 2 making it easy to find entry points in MS where without the Action contacts would be difficult. In turn the road is paved for bilateral cooperation.

Concerted Action EPBD V aim to support the implementation of the Energy Performance in Buildings Directive through exchange of information and experience among Member States and other participating countries (Norway) with regards to the implementation of the specific European Union legislation and policy on the energy performance of buildings, and in particular with regards to the transposition and implementation of the re-cast of the EPBD (DIRECTIVE 2010/31/EU) and the on-going revision of this directive. The specific objectives are to: 1. Enhance and structure sharing of information and experience from national implementation and promote good practice in activities required of Member States for implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). 2. Create favourable conditions for faster convergence of national procedures on EPBD-related matters. 3. Develop a direct link with the other two buildings-related Concerted Actions established within the IEE programme: the CA-RES, focussing on transposition and implementation of the Renewable Energy Systems Directive (DIRECTIVE 2009/28/EC); and the CA-EED, focusing on transposition and implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive (DIRECTIVE 2012/27/EU), where National Energy Plans include initiatives towards building energy efficiency. 4. Supplement the work of the Article 26 Committee and possible ad-hoc groups on CEN (European Committee for Standardization) standards and certification exercises. 5. Establish a dialogue with the CEN in the implementation of 2nd generation standards to support the implementation of the recast EPBD and its revision. 6. Support for European Member States and Norway to use National Energy Plans to report progress on the EPBD implementation. The CAV_EPBD will strive to result in a more harmonized approach, improved implementation and actual application of the EPBD in all the countries involved, as well as helping to disseminate best practices between the countries.