Voluntary Agreements

The first voluntary agreement signed in March 1996 by the former Minister of Energy and FEDIL (Federation des Industriels Luxembourgeois) included a target for an average 10% improvement in energy efficiency by 35 of its members between 1990 and 2000. This first voluntary agreement terminated at the end of 2000. An assessment report for the period 1990-2000 shows that energy efficiency improved by 15%. In 2001, discussions to conclude another voluntary agreement for industry resulted in a new voluntary agreement signed on 29 April 2002. FEDIL and the government expect that through energy savings in installations and production processes, energy efficiency could be improved by an average of 20% during the period 1990-2010. No targets for individual companies were set in these voluntary agreements. Companies were free to choose the best means to improve their efficiency. A second voluntary agreement was signed by Entent des Hopitaux EHL, aimed at improving energy efficiency in 17 hospitals and nursing homes by 20% in the period 1991-2001. Although this agreement ended on 31 December 2001, no assessment of the results was available at the end of 2002. A third voluntary agreement was signed by the banking sector (ABBL), with the target of improving energy efficiency in the 166 ABBL bank members by 20% from 1991 to 2001. No assessment of the results was available as of the end of 2002. A fourth agreement was signed by the hotel sector (HORESCA) in 1998. This agreement is integrated in the "Ecolabel" action initiated by the Ministry of Tourism with the foundation Oeko-Fonds. In the framework of Ecolabel, the activity "advice for energy" focuses on the elaboration of documents for energy analysis of hotels, rural tourism and camping units, to provide practical ways to save energy and to establish a final report on the energy analysis of the sector. Up to now, about 40 energy analyses have been finalised.