Content
Abstract:
The relevance of the study is determined by the strategic role of improving energy efficiency in achieving climate goals and ensuring energy security, as well as the need to develop effective mechanisms of state control and supervision of product compliance with established requirements in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). A comparative legal analysis of the institutional and procedural foundations of control and supervisory activities in the field of energy efficiency of lighting products in the EAEU and the European Union (EU) was conducted. The regulatory framework for the study was formed by technical regulations of the EAEU (TR EAEU 048/2019, etc.) and secondary law acts of the EU (Regulations 2019/2020, 2019/2015). It has been established that the EU’s monitoring system, developed over 40 years of product-based energy efficiency policy evolution, is characterized by a comprehensive assessment methodology (considering service life and maintainability), harmonized risk-based market surveillance institutions, and a sanctioning mechanism focused on proportionality and prevention. Its political foundation is the “Energy Efficiency First” principle, reinforced by the integration of social aspects (combatting energy poverty and a just transition). In contrast, the EAEU system exhibits methodological lag, fragmentation of institutional powers, a focus on post-control, and a non-harmonized sanctions regime, which creates conditions for regulatory arbitrage and reduces the effectiveness of oversight. The identified differences are systemic and reflect the different stages of development of the philosophy of technical regulation: from narrow standardization to the integration of economic, environmental, and social objectives. Based on the analysis, recommendations wereformulated for harmonizing regulatory and supervisory activities within the EAEU, including: modernizing the energy efficiency assessment methodology in line with modern technologies; implementing a risk-based approach to inspection planning; creating a unified supervisory information system; harmonizing sanctions; and initiating a discussion on incorporating the social aspects of energy efficiency into the Union’s political agenda.
References:
1. Paris Agreement, Dec. 12, 2015 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/english_paris_agreement.pdf (Data of accessed: 12/02/2024). 2. International Energy Agency (IEA). Energy Efficiency Market Report 2013 / Paris: IEA, 2013, 247 p. 3. Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union (Signed in Astana on May 29, 2014) (as amended on May 29, 2024) [Electronic resource] // ConsultantPlus, URL: http://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_163855/ (Date of accessed: December 2, 2024). 4. Consolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union // Official Journal of the European Union, 2012, C 326/47, pp. 47–390. 5. European Commission. The European Green Deal: COM (2019) 640 final / Brussels, 2019, 24 p. 6. Gonzalez-Torres, M., Bertoldi, P., Castellazzi, L., Perez-Lombard, L. Review of EU product energy efficiency policies: What have we achieved in 40 years? // Journal of Cleaner Production, 2023, Vol. 421, p. 138442. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138442 7. Regulation (EU) 2023/1791 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2023 on energy efficiency and amending Regulation (EU) 2023/955 (recast) // Official Journal of the European Union, 2023, L 231, pp. 1–111. 8. von Malmborg, F. First and last and always: Politics of the ‘energy efficiency first’ principle in EU energy and climate policy // Energy Research & Social Science, 2023, Vol. 101, p. 103126. DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2023.103126 9. International Energy Agency (IEA). Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency: From “Hidden Fuel” to “First Fuel” / Paris: IEA, 2019, 165 p. 10. Nordensvärd, J., Bjorklund, M., von Malmborg, F., La Fleur, L., Skogsmo, E., Gamez, D.H.B. Reviewing the EU policy nexus of energy efficiency and social policy // Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2025 Vol. 224, pp. 116128. DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2025.116128 11. von Malmborg, F., Bjorklund, M., Nordensvärd, J. Framing the benefits of European Union policy expansion on energy efficiency of buildings: A Swiss knife or a Trojan horse? // European Policy Analysis, 2023, Vol. 9, # 3, pp. 219–243, DOI: 10.1002/epa2.1184 12. Technical Regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union “On Requirements for the Energy Efficiency of Energy-Consuming Devices” (EAEU TR 048/2019) (approved by the Decision of the EEC Council of 18.10.2019 No. 114) [Electronic resource] // Electronic fund of legal and regulatory-technical documents. URL: https://docs.cntd.ru/document/564716947 (date of access: 02.12.2024). 13. Shevchenko L.I. Legal problems of forming a common market of energy resources of the EAEU // Law. Journal Higher school economics, 2020, # 1, pp. 185–208. 14. Zweigert, K., Kötz, H. An Introduction to Comparative Law / Transl. from German by T. Weir, 3rd rev. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, 744 p. 15. Heffe, O. Justice: A Philosophical Introduction / Translated from German, Moscow: Praxis, 2007, 192 p. 16. Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2020 of 1 October 2019 laying down eco-design requirements for light sources and separate control gears pursuant to Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Regulations (EC) No 244/2009, (EC) No 245/2009 and (EU) No 1194/2012 // Official Journal of the European Union, 2019, L 315/209, pp. 209–277. 17. Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2015 of 11 March 2019 laying down eco-design requirements for refrigerating appliances pursuant to Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 643/2009 // Official Journal of the European Union, 2019, L 315/227, pp. 227–272. 18. Review of the practice of monitoring compliance with the requirements of technical regulations of the EAEU for 2021–2023 // Analytical report of the Eurasian Economic Commission, Moscow, 2024, 87 p. 19. European Court of Auditors. Special Report – EU action on Eco-design and Energy Labelling: important contribution to greater energy efficiency reduced by significant delays and non-compliance / Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2020, 70 p. DOI: 10.2865/911158 20. Rosenow, J., Cowart, R., Bayer, E., Fabbri, M. Assessing the European Union’s energy efficiency policy: Will the winter package deliver on ‘efficiency first’? // Energy Research & Social Science, 2017, Vol. 26, pp. 72–79. DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2017.01.022 21. Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). Efficiency First: A new paradigm for the European energy system: Driving competitiveness, energy security and decarbonization through increased energy productivity / Brussels, 2016, 44 p. 22. Hajer, M.A. The Politics of Environmental Discourse:Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995, 344 p. 23. Schmidt, V.A. Discursive institutionalism: The explanatory power of ideas and discourse // Annual Review of Political Science, 2008, Vol. 11, pp. 303–326. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.polisci.11.060606.135342 24. European Court of Auditors. Special Report – Combating food waste: an opportunity for the EU to improve the resource-efficiency of the food supply chain / Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2016, 68 p. DOI: 10.2865/333089 25. Bertoldi, P. Policies for energy conservation and sufficiency: Review of existing policies and recommendations for new and effective policies in OECD countries // Energy and Buildings, 2022, Vol. 264, pp. 112075. DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112075 26. Rosenow, J., Kern, F. Chapter 28: EU energy innovation policy: the curious case of energy efficiency // In: M.M. Roggenkamp, C. Banet (eds.). Research Handbook on EU Energy Law and Policy; Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017, pp. 528–551. 27. Chlechowitz, M., Reuter, M., Eichhammer, W. How first comes energy efficiency? Assessing the energy efficiency first principle in the EU using a comprehensive indicator-based approach // Energy Efficiency, 2022, Vol. 15, pp. 59. DOI: 10.1007/s12053-022-10063-8 28. Romanova, V.V. Legal problems of harmonization of legislation in the field of technical regulation in the EAEU [Pravovyye voprosy garmonizatsii zakonodatel’stva v oblasti tekhnicheskogo regulirovaniya v EAEU] // Journal of Russian Law, 2019, # 4, pp. 68–79. 29. Recital 64, Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action // Official Journal of the European Union, 2018, L 328/1, pp. 1–77. 30. European Commission. Commission Staff Working Document – Assessment of progress towards the objectives of the energy union and climate action: SWD (2023) 646 final / Brussels, 2023, 178 p. 31. Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2017 setting a framework for energy labelling and repealing Directive 2010/30/EU // Official Journal of the European Union, 2017, L 198, pp. 1–23.
Keywords
- state control
- supervision
- energy efficiency
- lighting products
- technical regulation
- Eurasian Economic Union
- European Union
- comparative legal analysis
- market surveillance
- energy poverty
Recommended articles
Optimisation of Illuminance of Municipal Facilities and Protection of Retail Power Consumers: Interdependence of Processes. L&E 27 (5) 2019
Energy Saving in the Sphere of State Public Interests. L&E 27 (№1. 2019)
Main Directions of the Russian State Energy Saving Policy in the Field of Electric Power Engineering. L&E 26 (4) 2018