Towards an effective implementation of key legislation in the field of sustainable energy

About the call

The call supports the implementation of two central directives: the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED, 2023/1791) and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD, 2024/1275). Applications must choose one of the two strands and clearly indicate it in the introduction.

Objectives

To support Member States in implementing the EED (Strand A) and the EPBD (Strand B) - through the exchange of practices, technical support, tools and measurement methodologies.

Strand A - Energy Efficiency Directive (EED)

Actions must cover at least one of the following key items:

• The 'energy efficiency first' principle: simple, standardised, cost-effective methodologies, tools, benchmarks and processes for its application - in energy infrastructure planning, national policies, public support schemes, and regional and local investment decisions.
• The role of the public sector in reaching its designated targets: developing strategies, mapping public buildings, and collecting and calculating data from public authorities.
• Energy saving obligations and energy efficiency obligation schemes: design, implementation, contribution calculation, and evaluation of measures.
• Comprehensive assessments of heating and cooling (Article 25 EED): national guidelines, tools and support structures for local authorities, governance of the heating transition, and consistency of data collection across Article 25 EED, LHCPs, national building renovation plans (Article 3 EPBD) and building energy performance databases (Article 22 EPBD).
• Article 11 EED - energy audits and energy management systems: a harmonised approach to audit methods across Member States and sectors, and faster implementation of recommended measures from companies' action plans.

Strand B - Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD)

The transposition deadline is 29 May 2026. Actions must address one of the three focus areas:

• Raising awareness of the benefits of implementing EPBD provisions, and the effectiveness and consistency of tools for improving building energy performance through more and deeper renovations.
• Supporting the deployment of all EPBD policy instruments for the transition to a climate-neutral building stock.
• Supporting the optimal deployment of building data and information tools in the context of the EPBD.

Distinction from other calls

• Projects specifically focused on local heating/cooling plans → HEATCOOLPLAN.
• Projects focused on improving EPBD information tools → BETTERRENO.

Conditions

• Consortium: at least 3 applicants from 3 different countries.
• Indicative grant amount: up to €2 million.

Deadline

16 September 2026, 17:00 CEST