We all depend on energy in our everyday lives. We need it to have sufficient levels of heating, cooling and lighting in our homes which is essential to maintain a decent standard of living and to protect our health.
Energy poverty occurs when households cannot afford or access the energy services they need or must reduce their energy consumption to a degree that negatively impacts the inhabitants' health and wellbeing.
Due to its private and complex nature, energy poverty remains a major challenge in the EU. The COVID-19 crisis, followed by the surge in energy prices and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, worsened an already difficult situation for too many EU citizens.
Europeans unable to keep their homes adequately warm
The number of Europeans unable to keep their homes adequately warm peaked at 10.6% in 2023, compared to 6.9% 2021. Thanks to EU efforts, for the second year in a row, in 2025, this indicator of energy poverty registered a downward trajectory (8.8% in 2025 compared to 9.2% in 2024). This positive trend resulted from a combination of factors including a reduction in gas and electricity retail prices, implementation of energy efficiency measures and increased understanding of energy poverty and affected populations.
Energy poverty during summer
Summer energy poverty is the inability to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures during summer.
Excessive heat brings significant public health, economic, and social challenges, particularly for vulnerable groups. Climate change and increasingly frequent and extreme heat waves are making summer energy poverty an urgent and growing issue in Europe and a key focus of the EU’s efforts to promote a just and fair energy transition.
Early findings suggest that those affected by energy poverty during winter may struggle in summer too. While the solutions can share similarities, summer energy poverty can also benefit from measures in other sectors, such as urban and spatial planning and the greening of spaces.
A 2025 Commission report Framing summer energy poverty: Insights and recommendations for a resilient future found that more attention needs to be put on implementing the EU policy framework and building comprehensive solutions to address both immediate risks and build year-long resilience. Targeted implementation and better coordination of the policy streams and integration of summer energy poverty into national and local strategies are crucial.
EU measures to tackle energy poverty
Energy poverty must be tackled by addressing its root causes through structural and targeted measures, and in particular through improved energy efficiency.
The implementation of EU legislation, including the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, the Energy Efficiency Directive and the Renewable Energy Directive, is expected to reinforce and accelerate the recent progress in tackling energy poverty.
To further protect EU consumers from rising and volatile energy prices in light of the Middle East conflict, the Commission presented the AccelerateEU communication in April 2026 with its comprehensive set of actions and measures, included in the AccelerateEU Catalogue.
Citizens Energy Package
A central element to deliver on the Affordable Energy Action Plan is the Citizens Energy Package, which aims to better protect and empower energy consumers with a special focus on vulnerable groups. To facilitate action by EU countries, the Commission published guidance, and launched an awareness raising campaign to better inform citizens of their energy rights.
The European Affordable Housing Plan links with the Citizens Energy Package by emphasising the protection of the most affected and pushing for revised state aid rules for better national financial support.
European Pillar of Social Rights
The European Pillar of Social Rights includes energy as an essential service to which everyone is entitled. The first ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy sets a clear path toward reaching the EU target of reducing the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion by at least 15 million by 2030, laid out in the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, as well as helping to eradicate poverty by 2050.
EU legal framework to tackle energy poverty
The concept of energy poverty was first introduced in EU law by the Directive on common rules for the internal electricity market (2009/72/EC). Since then, several pieces of EU legislation include specific obligations on EU countries to address energy poverty.
An overview of the EU’s legal framework to tackle energy poverty is outlined below.
Governance Regulation
The Governance Regulation (EU/2018/1999) contains explicit obligations to identify, monitor and address energy poverty through the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). It requires EU countries to assess the number of households in energy poverty. If a significant number of households in energy poverty are identified, the EU country must submit a national objective to reduce energy poverty.
Energy Efficiency Directive
The revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EU/2023/1791) puts a stronger focus on alleviating energy poverty and empowering consumers through a series of wide-reaching measures. The revised Directive introduces an EU-wide definition of energy poverty as:
'a household’s lack of access to essential energy services, where such services provide basic levels and decent standards of living and health, including adequate heating, hot water, cooling, lighting, and energy to power appliances, in the relevant national context, existing national social policy and other relevant national policies, caused by a combination of factors, including at least non-affordability, insufficient disposable income, high energy expenditure and poor energy efficiency of homes.'
The Directive also includes an obligation on EU countries to prioritise vulnerable households for investments in energy efficiency and to ensure a minimum share of energy savings achieved benefits households in energy poverty.
Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
The revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EU/2024/1275) includes specific provisions related to people experiencing energy poverty, vulnerable households and people living in social housing. It requires EU countries to report on the alleviation of energy poverty in their National Building Renovation Plans. In addition, related policies and measures, including information-related actions, will have to target the alleviation of energy poverty.
Social Climate Fund
The Social Climate Fund aims to alleviate the impacts of carbon pricing, on heating and transport, from the Emissions Trading System (ETS2), on vulnerable households, transport users, and microenterprises. The fund aims to ensure long-term relief through investments in structural measures, including home renovations, clean heating installation and sustainable transport solutions.
Electricity Directive and Electricity Market Design
The recast Electricity Directive (EU/2019/944) puts forward the definition of vulnerable customers, which EU countries can support with regulated prices. Furthermore, the 2024 reform of the Electricity Market Design (EU/2024/1711) and the revision of the gas market legislation (2024/1788) strengthened consumer rights and protection. Among other measures, they oblige EU countries to prevent and protect vulnerable consumers from energy disconnections. They also provide for clearer information and enhanced rights for consumers, especially those who are most vulnerable.
Moreover, for both the electricity and gas markets, in case of a price crisis, EU legislation urges countries to ensure that these categories of consumers have access to affordable energy and essential social services, including through interventions on price settings to shield them from excessively high prices.
Recommendation on energy poverty
In 2023, ahead of NECP revisions and due to the many legislative developments, the Commission published an updated Recommendation on energy poverty (C/2023/4080), and an accompanying guidance document, building on the 2020 Recommendation (EU/2020/1563). On the same day, the Commission renewed the Joint Declaration on enhanced consumer protection for the winter.
The Energy Poverty Advisory Hub
The Energy Poverty Advisory Hub (EPAH) is the leading EU initiative aiming to eradicate energy poverty. It was launched by the Commission in 2021, at the request of the European Parliament, and builds on the ‘EU Energy Poverty Observatory’ project (2016-2020).
The EPAH offers a space for collaboration and exchange between local and regional authorities to tackle energy poverty, while accelerating the just energy transition.
It provides online guidance and knowledge products for diagnosing, measuring and planning actions to tackle energy poverty at local level from a national and EU perspective including
- publications
- an interactive database that allows stakeholders to discover local and international projects and measures addressing energy poverty
- courses to increase knowledge on energy poverty and mitigation actions
- calls for technical assistance to directly assist local governments in taking action on energy poverty
Together with the Covenant of Mayors, the EPAH also developed a reporting mechanism that cities can use to track the progress in eradicating energy poverty.
In April 2022, the Commission Energy Poverty and Vulnerable Consumers Coordination Group was established, aiming to provide EU countries with a space to exchange best practices and increase coordination of policy measures to support vulnerable and energy-poor households.
Energy Poverty and Vulnerable Consumers Coordination Group
In April 2022, the Energy Poverty and Vulnerable Consumers Coordination Group was established under Commission Decision (EU) 2022/589.
It is the main platform for the Commission and EU countries to exchange best practices and increase coordination of policy measures to support vulnerable and energy-poor households.
Related links
- Study – Framing summer energy poverty (2025)
- Recommendation on energy poverty (C/2023/4080)
- Recommendation on energy poverty (EU/2020/1563)
- Energy Poverty Advisory Hub
- AccelerateEU Catalogue
- Affordable Energy Action Plan
- Citizens Energy Package
- European Affordable Housing Plan
- European Pillar of Social Rights
- European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan