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1. Member States, in cooperation with regional and local authorities, where applicable, shall ensure that information on available energy efficiency improvement measures, individual actions and financial and legal frameworks is transparent, accessible and widely disseminated to all relevant market actors, such as final customers, final users, consumer organisations, civil society representatives, renewable energy communities, citizen energy communities, local and regional authorities, energy agencies, social service providers, builders, architects, engineers, environmental and energy auditors, and installers of building elements as defined in Article 2, point (9), of Directive 2010/31/EU.

2. Member States shall take appropriate measures to promote and facilitate an efficient use of energy by final customers and final users. Those measures shall be part of a national strategy, such as the integrated national energy and climate plans provided for in Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, or the long-term renovation strategy established pursuant to Article 2a of Directive 2010/31/EU. For the purposes of this Article, those measures shall include a range of instruments and policies to promote behavioural change such as:

(a) fiscal incentives;

(b) access to finance, vouchers, grants or subsidies;

(c) publicly supported energy consumption assessments and targeted advisory services and support for household consumers, in particular people affected by energy poverty, vulnerable customers and, where applicable, people living in social housing;

(d) targeted advisory services for SMEs and microenterprises;

(e) information provision in accessible form to people with disabilities;

(f) exemplary projects;

(g) workplace activities;

(h) training activities;

(i) digital tools;

(j) engagement strategies.

3. For the purposes of this Article, the measures referred to in paragraph 2 shall include the creation of a supportive framework for market actors such as those referred to in paragraph 1, in particular for:

(a) the creation of one-stop shops or similar mechanisms for the provision of technical, administrative and financial advice and assistance on energy efficiency, such as energy checks for households, energy renovations of buildings, information on the replacement of old and inefficient heating systems with modern and more efficient appliances and the take-up of renewable energy and energy storage for buildings to final customers and final users, especially household and small non-household ones, including SMEs and microenterprises;

(b) cooperation with private actors that provide services such as energy audits and energy consumption assessments, financing solutions and execution of energy renovations;

(c) the communication of cost-effective and easy-to-achieve changes in energy use;

(d) the dissemination of information on energy efficiency measures and financing instruments;

(e) the provision of single points of contact, to provide final customers and final users with all necessary information concerning their rights, the applicable law and the dispute-settlement mechanisms available to them in the event of a dispute. Such single points of contact may be part of general consumer information points.

4. For the purpose of this Article, Member States shall in cooperation with competent authorities, and, where appropriate, private stakeholders establish dedicated one-stop shops or similar mechanisms for the provision of technical, administrative and financial advice for energy efficiency. Those facilities shall:

(a) advise with streamlined information on technical and financial possibilities and solutions to households, SMEs, microenterprises, public bodies;

(b) provide holistic support to all households, with a particular focus on households affected by energy poverty and on worst performing buildings, as well as to accredited companies and installers providing retrofit services, adapted to different housing typologies and geographical scope, and provide support covering the different stages of the retrofit project, including to facilitate the implementation of a minimum energy performance standard where such standard is provided for in a Union legislative act;

(c) advise on energy consumption behaviour.

5. Dedicated one-stop shop facilities as referred to in paragraph 4 shall, where appropriate:

(a) provide information about qualified energy efficiency professionals;

(b) collect typology-aggregated data from energy efficiency projects, share experiences and make them publicly available;

(c) connect potential projects with market players, in particular smaller-scale, local projects. For the purposes of the first subparagraph, point (b), the Commission shall assist Member States in order to facilitate the sharing of, and enhance cross-border cooperation with regard to, best practices.

6. The one-stop shops referred to in paragraph 4 shall offer dedicated services for people affected by energy poverty, vulnerable customers and people in low-income households. The Commission shall provide Member States with guidelines to develop those one-stop shops with the aim of creating a harmonised approach throughout the Union. The guidelines shall encourage cooperation among public bodies, energy agencies and community-led initiatives.

7. Member States shall establish appropriate conditions for market actors to provide adequate and targeted information and advice on energy efficiency to final customers, including people affected by energy poverty, vulnerable customers and, where applicable, people living in social housing, SMEs and microenterprises.

8. Member States shall ensure that final customers, final users, people affected by energy poverty, vulnerable customers and, where applicable, people living in social housing have access to simple, fair, transparent, independent, effective and efficient out-of-court mechanisms for the settlement of disputes concerning rights and obligations provided for in this Directive, through an independent mechanism such as an energy ombudsperson or a consumer body, or through a regulatory authority. Where the final customer is a consumer as defined in Article 4(1), point (a), of Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council , such out-of-court dispute settlement mechanisms shall comply with the requirements set out therein. Out-of-court dispute settlement mechanisms already existing in Member States may be used for that purpose, provided they are equally effective. Where necessary, Member States shall ensure that alternative dispute resolution entities cooperate to provide simple, fair, transparent, independent, effective and efficient out-of-court dispute settlement mechanisms for any dispute that arises from products or services that are tied to, or bundled with, any product or service falling under the scope of this Directive. The participation of enterprises in out-of-court dispute settlement mechanisms for household customers shall be mandatory unless the Member State demonstrates to the Commission that other mechanisms are equally effective.

9. Without prejudice to the basic principles of their laws on property and tenancy, Member States shall take the necessary measures to remove regulatory and non-regulatory barriers to energy efficiency as regards split incentives between owners and tenants, or among owners of a building or building unit, with a view to ensuring that those parties are not deterred from making efficiency-improving investments that they would otherwise have made by the fact that they will not individually obtain the full benefits or by the absence of rules for dividing the costs and benefits between them. Measures to remove such barriers may include providing incentives, repealing or amending legal or regulatory provisions, adopting guidelines and interpretative communications, simplifying administrative procedures, including national rules and measures regulating decision-making processes in multi-owner properties, and the possibility to turn to third-party financing solutions. The measures may be combined with the provision of education, training and specific information and technical assistance on energy efficiency to market actors such as those referred to in paragraph 1. Member States shall take appropriate measures to support a multilateral dialogue among relevant partners, such as local and regional authorities, the social partners, owners’ and tenants’ organisations, consumer organisations, energy distributors or retail energy sales companies, ESCOs, renewable energy communities, citizen energy communities, public authorities and agencies, with the aim of setting out proposals on jointly accepted measures, incentives and guidelines pertinent to split incentives between owners and tenants or among owners of a building or building unit. Each Member State shall report such barriers and the measures taken in its long-term renovation strategy established pursuant to Article 2a of Directive 2010/31/EU and to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999.

10. The Commission shall encourage the exchange and wide dissemination of information on good energy efficiency practices and methodologies and provide technical assistance to mitigate split incentives in Member States.