Italy votes against as EU Green Homes Directive passes

The EU Green Homes Directive cleared its final hurdle on Friday when it was approved by ministers at the Ecofin Council despite Italy and Hungary voting against and the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden abstaining, Azernews reports, citing ANSA.

The Directive sets new emissions-reduction targets for residential and non-residential buildings in order to progressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption in the EU building sector and make it climate neutral by 2050.

"We voted against the Green Homes Directive," said Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti in Luxembourg.

"The question is - who pays? "Unfortunately we have experiences in Italy that are well known".

That remark was a reference to the Superbonus scheme to incentivize energy-efficient building renovations, which was approved by a previous administration in 2020 and has cost the State so far around 122 billion euros, seriously limiting the current government's room for manoeuvre.

"It is a beautiful, ambitious directive, but who pays in the end?" Giorgetti added.

"We have had experiences in Italy in which the lucky few rebuilt their houses thanks to the money put in by the State, that is, all the other Italians.

"We say that this is an experience that could teach us something".