In 2009, the European Union adopted high-level goals for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and greenhouse gas reductions with targets set toward the year 2020. This was followed in 2012 by adoption of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) (2012/27/EU), which included as a major component a requirement for Member States to create Energy Efficiency Obligations Schemes (EEOSs) on energy companies or equivalent alternative measures, and those provisions have now been in effect for three years. In 2016, as European institutions consider how to meet clean energy and climate goals toward 2030 and beyond, it is important to understand how the Energy Efficiency Directive can be renewed and extended. This paper is a review of the main characteristics of some of the leading EEOSs in Europe and the United States, and is intended to answer basic questions as to scope and scale, and to inform European policymakers as they consider extending the EED beyond 2020. The purpose of this report is to explore the full range of costs and benefits of EEOSs that need to be considered in future impact assessments. This report presents our initial findings on the costs, bill impacts, and multiple benefits of EEOSs under Article 7 of the EED. The report presents data from five Member States: the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Italy, and Austria. Data from Ireland are not available at the date of this report, and Ireland therefore has not been analysed; however, data are expected later in 2016. Data from countries outside the European Union are included for comparison: the United States (states of California and Vermont). Table 1 presents the key design features of the EEOSs analysed in this study.