星空传媒

Concern is growing over the Government's failure to publish full details on how it intends to comply with the Energy Performance of 星空传媒s Directive. The deadline for Member States to transpose the directive into law passed on 4 January, but so far only 10 have reported transposition.

Due to the lack of qualified and/or accredited experts, Member States can have another three years to implement the directive fully. An ODPM spokesperson said "We have had informal talks with the Commission and will notify them formally of our intentions very soon."

The ODPM has been working on a timetable for the introduction of the directive. "It will be phased in for different types of buildings as soon as is practicably possible, taking into account the number of inspectors available. It's in the pipeline and an announcement will be made as soon as possible," they added. A statement defining what comprises a public building will also be made.

The British Retail Consortium is one body urging the government to release details. According to Paul Browne, property policy executive for the British Retailer Consortium, "The industry is on tenterhooks at the moment, as it still doesn't know what it needs to do to comply with the directive."

Also causing concern is the Commission's current consultation on plans to widen the scope of the Directive to cover smaller buildings, below an area of 1000 m2. "We're particularly concerned about this because the potential saving in carbon is low," says Browne. "It's a case of diminishing returns, but the cost to the sector would be enormous".

The Commission was due to begin infringement proceedings at the end of January against governments that do not notify the Commission of their transposition measures.