04.12.2021 17:49Energy poverty | Energy
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Energy poverty
We all depend on energy in our everyday lives and need to have
sufficient levels of heating, cooling and lighting in our homes to have a
decent standard of living, but also to help guarantee our health.
Energy poverty in the EU
An EU-wide survey concluded that in 2020, 8% of the EU population
said that they were unable to keep their home adequately warm. Energy
poverty therefore remains a major challenge and lifting vulnerable
citizens out of it is an urgent task for the EU and its members.
Energy poverty results from a combination of low income, high
expenditure of disposable income on energy and poor energy efficiency,
especially as regards the performance of buildings. People in inefficient
buildings are more exposed to cold spells, heatwaves and other impacts
of climate change. Inadequate comfort and sanitary conditions in
housing and work environments, such as inadequate indoor
temperatures, deficient air quality and exposure to harmful chemicals
and materials, contribute to lower productivity, health problems and
higher mortality and morbidity.
For decades, the EU has been facing an acute and persistent housing
affordability challenge with an alarming number of Europeans being
unable to afford rents or cover basic housing costs. Adverse effects on
mental health can be particularly acute due to stress over unaffordable
PAGE CONTENTS
Energy poverty in the
EU
EU policy and
monitoring
EU Energy Poverty
Observatory
EU projects tackling
energy poverty
Documents
Related links
An official website of the European Union How do you know?
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energy bills. Given the wide range of socioeconomic factors surrounding
general poverty, and challenges around housing tenure systems, the
issue calls for a multi-faceted approach.
EU policy and monitoring
The EU is committed to tackling energy poverty by its roots and
protecting vulnerable consumers, and made it a policy priority in the
Clean energy for all Europeans package, adopted in 2019.
Significantly, EU counties are required to act appropriately to tackle
energy poverty wherever it is identified. They are also required to
protect vulnerable energy customers, in particular those in remote
areas. EU countries are moreover under an obligation to assess the
number of households in energy poverty and must establish and publish
criteria underpinning this assessment.
Where EU countries identify a significant number of energy poor
households, they must use their national energy and climate plans and
long-term renovation strategies to set out an indicative objective for the
reduction of energy poverty, a timeframe and relevant policies.
The Commission has further stepped up its ambition to tackle energy
poverty and support EU countries in their efforts through the
Recommendation on energy poverty (EU) 2020/1563, issued as part of
the renovation wave package. The renovation wave is committed to use
renovation as a lever to address energy poverty and access to healthy
housing for all households.
The recommendation and its supporting staff working document
provides guidance on appropriate indicators for measuring energy
poverty and on the definition of a ‘significant number of households in
energy poverty’. It also contributes to the sharing of best practices
between Member States and identifies the available EU level support
through a mix of funding sources that allows national, regional and local
authorities to use their full financial firepower, including grants and
subsidised renovation to limit upfront investments for the most
vulnerable, among others.
The responsibility of the EU to protect and empower energy consumers
is endorsed by EU citizens, according to the Special Eurobarometer
492 (2019). The poll shows that 89% of EU citizens agree that the EU
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must ensure access to affordable energy, such as ensuring competitive
market prices, in particular to reduce the number of people unable to
pay their energy bills.
EU Energy Poverty Observatory
The Commission launched, in January 2018, the Energy Poverty
Observatory (EPOV), which aims to support informed decision-making
at local, regional and national level by providing a user-friendly and
open-access resource. It promotes public engagement on the issue of
energy poverty, as well as serve to disseminate information and good
practice among public and private stakeholders. The first phase of the
project ended in August 2020 and the observatory, including its
revamped website, will be fully functional again in 2021.
To gain a comprehensive overview, EPOV has summarised key aspects
of the situation on energy poverty in each Member State. Completed in
February 2020, these extended Member State reports refer to the key
indicators, policies and publications gathered by the observatory and
are based on data collected by EUROSTAT.
In its third EU report from June 2020, EPOV provides a comprehensive
analysis on current and coming measures on energy poverty across the
EU, including on specific policies that have been developed in relation
to the COVID-19 crisis. The report also focuses on how EU countries
take into account energy poverty policies in their national energy and
climate plans.
The Commission also facilitates the exchange of best practices
regarding vulnerable energy consumers in the Citizen's Energy Forum.
EU projects tackling energy poverty
Across Europe, various projects are developing innovative solutions to
combat energy poverty. As part of the 2018 call of Horizon 2020 Energy
Efficiency, around EUR 6 million were granted to 3 projects addressing
energy poverty, namely STEP (Solutions to Tackle Energy Poverty),
EmpowerMed and SocialWatt.
These projects share the same purpose,to alleviate energy poverty by
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working with key actors, including utilities, consumer organisations or
consumers themselves. They also share best practices to replicate
successful schemes and issue policy recommendations.
Project developers work closely with networks of local actors and
energy poor households to provide practical information and advice on
low-cost energy efficiency solutions. This can in turn help improve
energy access in a way that maximises both energy and financial
savings.
There are many other projects that also receive EU funding, including
through the European Investment Bank. The European Commission
campaign site EU protects provides a few recent examples of what is
done to fight energy poverty.
To guarantee that local social housing projects have access to all
necessary technical capacity, the Commission will launch the Affordable
Housing Initiative.
To address the specific challenges in rural and remote locations, the
Commission will in 2021 come forward with a communication on the
long-term vision for rural areas to analyse social and infrastructure
aspects in rural areas and examine possible action in the short and
medium-term.
In addition the EU Energy Poverty Observatory, the EU Building Stock
Observatory, the Horizon Europe Mission on Cities and the EU
Covenant of Mayors Office can further assist Member States in taking
stock and identifying segments in need.
Documents
Recommendation on energy poverty (EU) 2020/1563 | Staff
working document SWD (2020) 960 final
Directive on common rules for the internal market for electricity
(EU) 2019/944
Towards an inclusive energy transition in the European Union:
Confronting energy poverty amidst a global crisis (June 2020)
Study: Energy poverty and vulnerable consumers in the energy
sector across the EU (May 2018)
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Related links
Clean energy for all Europeans
Energy performance of buildings
Access to and use of energy services
Your Europe website
EU protects campaign site - energy poverty
Published: 22 May 2019
Last update: 9 November 2021