Attending and chairing the meeting were Vice Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Phuong Tuan and members who are full-time National Assembly deputies of the Committee; Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hoang Long; representatives of the National Assembly Committees and relevant ministries and branches.
Overview of the meeting
Referring to the necessity of the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy (EEEE), Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hoang Long affirmed that after 15 years of implementation, the EEE ... enhance the competitiveness of Vietnamese enterprises in the face of challenges from technical barriers of the European Union (EU), the US, Japan and other regions in the world through financial support tools, preferential mechanisms for enterprises investing in projects on energy saving and efficiency to meet the requirements of the export market through the fund mechanism; promote development and expand the market for energy consulting services; contribute to proactively and actively implementing commitments when participating in the 26th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 26). The draft Law is closely following the 04 policies that the Government has submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee and does not add or change new policies. Project to amend and supplement 21 clauses of 19 articles of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy issued in 2010.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hoang Long
On behalf of the reviewing agency, Member who is a full-time National Assembly Deputy at the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Le Hoang Hai affirmed that the Committee basically agrees with the necessity of promulgating the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy.
The Committee for Science, Technology and Environment basically agrees with the views in the Government's Submission but proposes to supplement a number of contents, specifically: Closely following Resolution 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation, Resolution 55-NQ/TW on strategic orientations for Vietnam's national energy development to 2030, with a vision to 2045; Innovation in legislative thinking is that the Law needs to stipulate a framework, strong decentralization, assign the Government to detail, and flexibly apply in practice; Resolution No. 158/2024/QH15 dated November 12, 2024 of the National Assembly on the socio-economic development plan for 2025, which stipulates "focusing on cutting and simplifying administrative procedures, business regulations, creating convenience and reducing costs for people and businesses". According to the member who is a full-time National Assembly deputy at the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Le Hoang Hai, the draft Law dossier basically meets the conditions for submission to the National Assembly according to the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents. However, the Committee proposed to continue reviewing, comparing and evaluating each content in the 04 policy groups with the provisions of the draft Law to ensure consistency; the amended contents must meet the requirements of state management practice and international integration. In addition, the Committee proposed to review the content of the draft Decree detailing and implementing measures for the Law on Green and Sustainable Energy attached to the Law project dossier to ensure consistency with the policies in the draft.
Member is a full-time National Assembly Deputy working at the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Le Hoang Hai
Regarding the scope of the Law amendment, the Committee suggested that the Law project drafting agency should continue to review and institutionalize more clearly some contents on mechanisms and policies to mobilize resources for green and sustainable industrial transformation and economical and efficient use in the context of Vietnam's energy shortage; change production and business models on the basis of big data technology, artificial intelligence... to achieve the energy saving targets stated in Resolution No. 55-NQ/TW.
Continue to study the Fund for promoting the use of energy economically and efficiently
During the meeting, delegates said that the agency in charge of drafting the draft Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy should continue to review and compare the provisions of the draft Law with relevant laws to ensure consistency and uniformity of the legal system.
Contributing opinions on the regulation on energy labeling, some delegates said that energy labeling for construction materials is not really popular, it may be difficult for small manufacturing enterprises, material manufacturing enterprises have not regularly tested and labeled because of high testing costs, there have been no previous mandatory requirements... Therefore, delegates suggested that the agency in charge of drafting continue to review, research, evaluate, and clarify the feasibility of this regulation; review and supplement the subjects of labeling to comply with the requirements of international integration in trade.
Regarding the regulation on the Fund for promoting economical and efficient use of energy, some delegates expressed their views that the establishment of the Fund for promoting economical and efficient use of energy needs to be further studied and must be carefully assessed and considered at the present time because the State budget is still limited. Currently, the State Budget Law has stipulated on non-budgetary State financial funds, the Civil Code has stipulated on social funds, so it is not necessary to stipulate the Fund for promoting economical and efficient use of energy in this draft Law.
In addition, delegates also contributed opinions on the contents related to energy auditor certificates, energy management; decentralization and delegation of authority in the development and promulgation of the list of key energy-using establishments, etc.
Also at the meeting, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hoang Long acknowledged and explained the opinions and proposals of the delegates. The opinions are all very valid and convincing for the drafting agency of the Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Sustainable Development and Natural Resources to continue to study and review in the process of completing the Law project before sending it to the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment for consideration and submission to the National Assembly at the 9th Session.
Speaking at the meeting, Chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy emphasized that in the context of global energy security facing many challenges, fossil fuel supplies increasingly depleted, complex climate change and urgent requirements for transition to a green economy and circular economy, the use of energy economically and efficiently has become an inevitable trend and a top priority of many countries in the world, including Vietnam.
Realizing that importance, Vietnam issued the Law on Energy Efficiency and Conservation in 2010. After more than a decade of implementation, the Law has created an important legal corridor, contributing to raising awareness and promoting energy-saving activities in all areas of economic and social life, achieving encouraging results.
Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy
However, the reality of rapid socio-economic development, the process of deep international integration, the strong development of science and technology, along with Vietnam's strong international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (especially the commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 at COP 26) requires us to make adjustments, supplements and improvements to the legal framework on energy efficiency and conservation to suit the new situation. Therefore, the development and promulgation of the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Sustainable Development and Natural Resources is extremely necessary.
Through the comments contributed at the meeting, the delegates highly appreciated the process of preparing the draft Law as well as the quality and timeliness of the draft Official Review Report of the presiding agency. The delegates' opinions were fully recorded for study, reception and explanation.
Chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy also requested the Standing Committee of the Committee to coordinate with the drafting agency and relevant agencies to seriously receive the opinions of the delegates to discuss and complete the draft Law to request the opinions of the Committee members before submitting it to the National Assembly for consideration.
Chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy delivered a concluding speech at the meeting.
