The European Commission has decided to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union for not having calculated the cost-optimal levels of minimum energy performance requirements for buildings. Greece had to perform the necessary calculations and to submit a report to the Commission on 11 July 2014. To date, Greece is the only Member State that did not perform the cost-optimal calculations and did not send a report to the Commission.
Under the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (Directive 2010/31/EU), Member States have to set minimum energy performance requirements for buildings, with a view to achieving the best combination between investments and savings, also known as 'cost-optimal levels'. The use of the comparative cost-optimal framework methodology aims to ensure that Member States have similar levels of ambition for establishing minimum performance requirements for new and existing buildings, and building elements (e.g. walls, roof, windows, etc.), and keeping performance under review by taking into account market and technical developments. Furthermore, it allows defining building and building element efficiency levels which are cost-efficient for investors, promoters and home owners.