Czech Business Today
Energy Labels: Return to the A-G Scale Will Improve Consumer Orientation
Labels that indicate energy consumption introduced twenty years ago remain one of the motivating factors for the development of more efficient products. However, with the technical innovation and shift of the appliances towards more efficient energy categories, the value of the information on the labels is falling.
European Commission ́s proposal to return to the original range of energy labels with the scale from A-G should allow a better orientation for consumers. Nevertheless, the transformation will mean new costs for manufacturers. The impact of the proposal in practice was discussed on October 20 in the European House in Prague.
“The aim of this proposal is to provide consumers with better information about energy efficiency when buying appliances, which leads to reduced energy consumption,” said Michaela Mlíčková-Jelínková of Representation of the European Commission in the Czech Republic. According to Juraj Krivošik, Director of the Center for Energy Efficiency SEVEn, the current energy labels do not provide sufficient information about market offer for consumers and that decreases their motivation to choose energy-saving appliances.
Hana Schvarczová of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic stressed the advantage of new product database that will unite all the information about available products on the market under one roof. On the other hand, Radek Hacaperka of the European Association of Domestic Equipment Manufacturers CECED CZ said that some of the information in database is confidential and should be available only for authorized authorities. All speakers agreed that the return to the original A-G scale has a potential to provide a better consumer orientation on the market. However, massive information campaign is needed to provide clarity for the customers.
