Energy poverty

​In 2018, around 34 million Europeans reported not being able to keep their homes adequately warm.

In 2019, 6.9% of the EU population could not heat their homes sufficiently.

The EU has long placed the accessibility of energy sources to the most deprived sections of the population at the center of its concerns.

Adequate heating and cheaper bills help improve citizens' general health conditions and improve their productivity when it comes to working environments.

This issue was identified as one of the political priorities in the Clean Energy for All Europeans package, adopted in 2019.

Member countries were asked to address energy poverty in a concrete and appropriate way, including by better protecting the most vulnerable energy consumers, especially those in remote areas.

Specifically, EU countries also have an obligation to assess the number of families in energy poverty and must establish and publish criteria to support this assessment.

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The EU Observatory on Energy Poverty


Where EU countries identify significant numbers of energy-poor households, they must use their national energy and climate plans and long-term restructuring strategies to set an indicative target for energy poverty reduction, a relevant timetable and policies.

The Commission has presented a Recommendation on Energy Poverty (EU) 2020/1563, as part of the Energy Renovation Plan for Buildings. The higher the energy efficiency of buildings, the lower the energy consumption and the lower the bills.

This Recommendation also indicates how to measure energy poverty and gives the lines for the definition of "significant number of households in energy poverty".

The Recommendation also helps share best practices between Member States and identifies support available at EU level through a mix of funding sources that allows national, regional and local authorities to use their full financial power, including grants. and subsidized restructuring to limit upfront investments for the most vulnerable, among others.

The Commission launched the Energy Poverty Observatory (EPOV) in January 2018.

This Observatory aims to help decision-making at local, regional and national level with access to a web resource that provides good practice information among public and private stakeholders.

Go to the website

​The first phase of the Energy Poverty Observatory project ended in August 2020. The launch of the second phase is expected in 2021, with the site fully operational and accessible to anyone.

The EPOV summarizes the key aspects of the energy poverty situation in each Member State, drawing on data from Eurostat.

In its third report from June 2020, the EPOV provided a comprehensive analysis of current and future measures on energy poverty in the EU, including specific policies that have been developed in relation to the COVID-19 crisis. The report also focuses on how EU countries take energy poverty policies into account in their national energy and climate plans.

The Commission also facilitates the exchange of best practices regarding vulnerable energy consumers in the Citizens' Energy Forum.


EU projects against energy poverty
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Across Europe, innovative solutions are being developed to combat energy poverty.

For example, also under the 2018 call for Horizon 2020 "Energy Efficiency", around 6 million euros were granted to 3 projects that tackle energy poverty: STEP (Solutions to Tackle Energy Poverty), EmpowerMed and SocialWatt.

These projects addressed the issue of how to alleviate energy poverty by collaborating with public services, consumer organizations or consumers themselves.

They served to share best practices to replicate successful schemes and issue policy recommendations.

The developers of these projects have worked closely with networks of local actors and energy-poor households to provide practical information and advice on low-cost energy efficiency solutions. This in turn can help improve access to energy in a way that maximizes both energy and financial savings.​

Then there are many other projects that receive funding from the European Investment Bank.

The European Commission's campaign site EU protects provides some recent examples of what is being done to combat energy poverty.


Future Projects

To ensure 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 areas, the Commission will present a communication on the long-term vision for rural areas in 2021 to analyze the social and infrastructural aspects in rural areas and examine possible actions in the short and medium term.

In addition, the EU Energy Poverty Observatory, the EU Real Estate Observatory, the Horizon Europe City Mission and the EU Covenant of Mayors Office can further help Member States take stock and identify segments in need.