Does EED Article 11 require corporate group aggregation?
Article 11 speaks in terms of "enterprises" but does not define that term or the group boundary. Commission Recommendation (EU) 2024/2002 interprets the provision by saying that all in EU territory should be considered when assessing energy consumption. Its suggested calculation counts linked enterprises with more than 50% control and does not count partner enterprises.
That recommendation guides Member States and is not a binding amendment to Article 11; the Court of Justice retains authority to interpret Union law. A group should apply the Member State's transposition and authority guidance, document any departure from the Commission method, and reconcile the group calculation to the entities and sites covered by the national filing.
- Start with the EU rule: average annual over the previous three years, taking all energy carriers together.
- Under the Commission's suggested approach, include EU under more than 50% control; do not automatically include partner enterprises.
- Check national transposition before deciding how branches, establishments, joint ventures, leased facilities, managed sites, or non-EU entities affect the local calculation.
- Keep a boundary memo identifying ownership links, legal entities, sites, meters, carriers, exclusions, assumptions, and the national rule or guidance applied.
Supports the Article 11 threshold wording for enterprises, including the 85 TJ and 10 TJ triggers, the three-year average, and the requirement to take all energy carriers together.
Sections 3.2 and 4.3 explain that the Directive does not define enterprise or system boundaries and recommend considering EU linked enterprises, using more than 50% control while excluding partner enterprises from the suggested calculation.