EU Directives

The European Union’s directives set out policy guidelines that must be transposed into the respective national legislations of all EU member states, including Finland. Each member state can choose its own way to ensure compliance with directives. In some cases no new national legislation needs to be passed to implement a new directive, if existing national legislation already fulfils its requirements.

EU directives that significantly shape national energy and climate policies:

• Emission Trading Directive;
• Energy Services Directive;
• Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings;
• Energy-using Products (EuP) Directive; and
• Renewable Energy Sources (RES) Directive.

Energy labelling schemes based on various directives also help to encourage energy efficiency by providing consumers with information to guide their choices.