The European Commission has launched an infringement procedure against Italy and 18 other Member States, including France and Germany, for failing to submit the national building renovation plan required by the “green homes” directive by the deadline.
The deadline set by the European Union was December 31, 2025, but many countries did not send the requested document. This is why Brussels has decided to send a letter of formal notice, the first formal step in the infringement procedure.
The states concerned now have two months to respond to the Commission. If the response is not deemed satisfactory, the European executive will be able to proceed with the next step of the procedure, i.e. sending a reasoned opinion, which represents a more advanced stage of the dispute.
What is the national plan for “green homes”
The national building renovation plan is one of the tools provided for by the European directive on the energy performance of buildings, which aims to decarbonise European real estate by 2050.
Each Member State must present a detailed strategy to progressively reduce the energy consumption of buildings and encourage the redevelopment of existing building stock.
The document should indicate, among other things:
The preliminary version of the plan was to be sent to the Commission by the end of 2025, so as to allow Brussels to evaluate it and provide any comments.
The next deadlines
After the preliminary phase, the countries of the Union will have to present the final version of the plan by 31 December 2026. The concrete implementation of the national strategies should begin in 2027. The directive also provides progressive objectives to reduce emissions from the building sector, one of the most energy-intensive in Europe.
Among the most relevant measures:
The crux of the Italian building heritage
For Italy, the transition towards green homes represents a particularly complex challenge. In fact, our country has one of the oldest building heritages in Europe. Many buildings were built before the Second World War or during the post-war economic boom and have very low energy performance, often in the most inefficient classes.
The European directive requires that interventions start from the most energy-intensive buildings, but the crucial question of the economic resources necessary to support the redevelopment of such a large real estate asset remains open.
In the coming months it will be understood whether Italy will be able to present the plan requested by Brussels and prevent the infringement procedure from continuing in the subsequent phases.
