Sixty participants from institutions and organizations dealing with energy and social issues gathered at the European Parliament in Bruxelles for conference ‘Energy Poverty in South East Europe’. European lawmakers, scientists, energy poverty experts and representatives of civil society at the panel debate focused on proposed policy recommendations, according to a press release published by the Society for Sustainable Development Design from Croatia. The conference was hosted by member of European Parliament Davor Škrlec and REACH project partners.
Stefan Bouzarovski, professor at the University of Manchester, said solving energy poverty in the region requires, first and foremost, comprehensive reconstruction of residential buildings and improvements in the field of energy efficiency. It is estimated that in Southeast European countries more than 30% of households struggle with energy poverty. Regional differences also play a significant role in the characteristics of energy poverty.
“Energy poverty is an important topic in all EU member states. During the past three months the European Parliament has adopted two resolutions through which member states and the European Commission were called to agree upon the definition of energy poverty and to start solving the issue of energy poverty via amendments of the Energy Efficiency Directive, the Renewable Energy Directive, and through implementation of the Energy Union Action Plan in a sustainable manner,” Škrlec said.
