Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 13 U.K. Administrative procedures, regulations and codes

1. Member States shall ensure that any national rules concerning the authorisation, certification and licensing procedures that are applied to plants and associated transmission and distribution network infrastructures for the production of electricity, heating or cooling from renewable energy sources, and to the process of transformation of biomass into biofuels or other energy products, are proportionate and necessary.

Member States shall, in particular, take the appropriate steps to ensure that:

(a) subject to differences between Member States in their administrative structures and organisation, the respective responsibilities of national, regional and local administrative bodies for authorisation, certification and licensing procedures including spatial planning are clearly coordinated and defined, with transparent timetables for determining planning and building applications;

(b) comprehensive information on the processing of authorisation, certification and licensing applications for renewable energy installations and on available assistance to applicants are made available at the appropriate level;

(c) administrative procedures are streamlined and expedited at the appropriate administrative level;

(d) rules governing authorisation, certification and licensing are objective, transparent, proportionate, do not discriminate between applicants and take fully into account the particularities of individual renewable energy technologies;

(e) administrative charges paid by consumers, planners, architects, builders and equipment and system installers and suppliers are transparent and cost-related; and

(f) simplified and less burdensome authorisation procedures, including through simple notification if allowed by the applicable regulatory framework, are established for smaller projects and for decentralised devices for producing energy from renewable sources, where appropriate.

2. Member States shall clearly define any technical specifications which must be met by renewable energy equipment and systems in order to benefit from support schemes. Where European standards exist, including eco-labels, energy labels and other technical reference systems established by the European standardisation bodies, such technical specifications shall be expressed in terms of those standards. Such technical specifications shall not prescribe where the equipment and systems are to be certified and should not impede the operation of the internal market.

3. Member States shall recommend to all actors, in particular local and regional administrative bodies to ensure equipment and systems are installed for the use of electricity, heating and cooling from renewable energy sources and for district heating and cooling when planning, designing, building and renovating industrial or residential areas. Member States shall, in particular, encourage local and regional administrative bodies to include heating and cooling from renewable energy sources in the planning of city infrastructure, where appropriate.

4. Member States shall introduce in their building regulations and codes appropriate measures in order to increase the share of all kinds of energy from renewable sources in the building sector.

In establishing such measures or in their regional support schemes, Member States may take into account national measures relating to substantial increases in energy efficiency and relating to cogeneration and to passive, low or zero-energy buildings.

By 31 December 2014, Member States shall, in their building regulations and codes or by other means with equivalent effect, where appropriate, require the use of minimum levels of energy from renewable sources in new buildings and in existing buildings that are subject to major renovation. Member States shall permit those minimum levels to be fulfilled, inter alia, through district heating and cooling produced using a significant proportion of renewable energy sources.

The requirements of the first subparagraph shall apply to the armed forces, only to the extent that its application does not cause any conflict with the nature and primary aim of the activities of the armed forces and with the exception of material used exclusively for military purposes.

5. Member States shall ensure that new public buildings, and existing public buildings that are subject to major renovation, at national, regional and local level fulfil an exemplary role in the context of this Directive from 1 January 2012 onwards. Member States may, inter alia, allow that obligation to be fulfilled by complying with standards for zero energy housing, or by providing that the roofs of public or mixed private-public buildings are used by third parties for installations that produce energy from renewable sources.

6. With respect to their building regulations and codes, Member States shall promote the use of renewable energy heating and cooling systems and equipment that achieve a significant reduction of energy consumption. Member States shall use energy or eco-labels or other appropriate certificates or standards developed at national or Community level, where these exist, as the basis for encouraging such systems and equipment.

In the case of biomass, Member States shall promote conversion technologies that achieve a conversion efficiency of at least 85 % for residential and commercial applications and at least 70 % for industrial applications.

In the case of heat pumps, Member States shall promote those that fulfil the minimum requirements of eco-labelling established in Commission Decision 2007/742/EC of 9 November 2007 establishing the ecological criteria for the award of the Community eco-label to electrically driven, gas driven or gas absorption heat pumps(1).

In the case of solar thermal energy, Member States shall promote certified equipment and systems based on European standards where these exist, including eco-labels, energy labels and other technical reference systems established by the European standardisation bodies.

In assessing the conversion efficiency and input/output ratio of systems and equipment for the purposes of this paragraph, Member States shall use Community or, in their absence, international procedures if such procedures exist.

(1)

OJ L 301, 20.11.2007, p. 14.