Brussels supports minimum energy standards for light bulbs - Gormley

The Green Party Leader and Environment Minister John Gormley TD announced today that he has received the European Commission's support for the plans to introduce minimum energy efficiency standards in Ireland for light bulbs from early next year. This initiative backs the Commission intentions to propose a community wide approach on minimum energy efficiency standards for light bulbs, he was told by Vice-President Verheugen in a meeting in Brussels yesterday. Minister Gormley met both Vice-President Verheugen and Commissioner Dimas to discuss various environmental matters.

Vice-President Günter Verheugen, who is also responsible for competitiveness and internal market issues relating to goods, also informed Minister Gormley that in light of Ireland's initiative, the Commission would be ready to accelerate its own planned regulation as much as possible.

During the meeting, Minister Gormley confirmed that Ireland would work closely with the European Commission to ensure that Ireland's new light bulb standards will be fully consistent with the solution envisaged by the European Commission. Ireland will ensure that the European notification procedures will be followed and both Vice-President Verheugen and Minister Gormley agreed to work closely in partnership on this and other issues.

Minister Gormley said: "I welcome the full engagement and support of the European Commission on Ireland’s plans to set minimum energy efficiency standards for light bulbs. I particularly welcome the Commission’s commitment to accelerate its own planned regulations in light of Ireland’s intervention on the issue."

Minister Gormley also announced that a full public consultation will take place in the coming weeks and months, and the opinions and input of all relevant parties and stakeholders will be sought. Irish officials will also begin work on liaising closely with the Commission to ensure that the Irish proposals are consistent with those in the pipeline in Europe.

"There has been a lot of misinformation and scaremongering in the last week on the proposals," he said. "I want to assure people that the approach to be taken will be pragmatic, and will take into account any legitimate concerns and issues regarding the drafting of the standards. That is why the Government has allowed for a full twelve months before any standards would come into force. We are only at the beginning of this process.

"The safe disposal of CFLs should not be a problem for any member of the public. Any retailer who sells CFLs is already legally obliged to take back waste CFLs when supplying a new one under the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive.

"My aim is to have legislation in place as soon as possible. I also intend to have a full public consultation with all relevant parties, in order to identify any problems and deal with them well in advance. As I outlined last December, this was always going to be the approach.

"The ultimate aim of this measure is to increase energy efficiency in Irish homes and businesses by facilitating a move to energy efficient light bulbs. Ultimately it will lead to savings of more than €180m per year for Irish consumers and reduce emissions in Ireland by 800,000 tonnes or one per cent of its total. This measure is good for the environment and good for consumers,” Minister Gormley concluded.