EU blasted over changes to energy labels

Any business or consumer wanting to buy energy-efficient products such as fridges, freezers and televisions now knows they should look for appliances that have been awarded an A rating under the EU's labelling scheme. But that will no longer be the case from next year after the EU yesterday approved controversial changes to the A-G labelling system that critics, including the British government, argue will only serve to confuse customers.

Following fierce lobbying from the household appliances industry, EU member states approved an overhaul to the popular labelling scheme that will introduce new "beyond A" labels, such as A-20% denoting a product that uses 20 per cent less energy than an A-rated appliance or A-60%, which uses 60 per cent less energy.

The UK government welcomed the introduction of new minimum standards that will ban the most inefficient products, estimating that the new rules will save the economy £150m a year through reduced energy bills.

But Whitehall expressed disappointment that the EU had decided to introduce new labels rather than simply update the criteria for A-G labels.

Lord Hunt, Defra minister for sustainability, said it was "disappointing" there had not been agreement on updating the existing labels, the criteria for which have not been changed in 10 years, adding that the government and retailers now had to work to ensure "consumers are able to easily identify the most energy-efficient appliances available".

The government added in a statement that "the UK continues to believe that the best outcome for consumers, retailers and manufacturers of energy-efficient appliances would be to establish a regularly re-evaluated A-G label that reflects the performance of current and future products on the EU market which the public understand and trust."

The EU estimates that the new mandatory rules, which will come into effect from mid-2010, will cut EU electricity consumption by 51TWh by 2020, equivalent to the combined electricity use of Portugal and Latvia.

EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs insisted that the new energy label is "very clear for consumers", adding that the new "beyond A" classes would help accelerate the "race for top efficient products".

However, critics maintain that the changes are a sop to the white goods lobby, which will allow firms to continue to label products that are no longer among the most energy efficient available as A-rated.

A poll of 7,000 people from across the UK, Poland, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, France and Italy commissioned by the UK's Energy Saving Trust (ETS) earlier this year, found that 90 per cent of respondents were aware of the current labelling scheme and more than 70 per cent preferred it to the alternative schemes being considered by the EU.

Speaking following the results of the poll, ETS chairman Edward Hyams slammed the EU's proposals arguing that changes to the labelling scheme would only serve to confuse customers and make it harder for them to identify the most energy-efficient products.

"The A-G label should stay as it is but ‘A’ should be regularly updated and made tougher for manufacturers to achieve," he said. "Last year, seven million white goods were sold in the UK alone and 70 per cent of those were A-rated. I would have thought that the EU had enough on its plate at the moment without wasting time, money and effort changing something that nine out of 10 people across Europe already understand and recognise."

In separate news, the EU Industry Committee yesterday also tabled proposals that will require tyres to carry similar A-G labels detailing their fuel efficiency.