17 EU countries have high levels of fuel poverty and 26 million Europeans are unable to maintain a fairly warm temperature in their homes in winter, according to a study published on Wednesday 20 February by the think tank ‘OpenEXP’ – a network of independent experts dedicated to achieving UN sustainable development goals.
The think thank publishes an index of fuel poverty at European level.
Fuel poverty is defined as the inability of a household to meet its heating energy needs due to low income or poor housing conditions. The study combines several indicators to establish a score out of 100: the higher the score, the lower the fuel poverty. As a result, Sweden, Finland and Denmark are frontrunners, ahead of Austria and Luxembourg. France is in tenth position, just behind Germany. At the bottom of the pack are Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia and Portugal.
The report also shows that the share of household spending on energy is increasing in Europe and that fuel poverty also exists in summer in some countries.
For the co-president of the Greens/EFA group in Parliament, Ska Keller, there is an urgent need to tackle energy poverty. It is unacceptable that people in southern and eastern Europe “stop heating their homes because of exorbitant costs”, she said.
To read the report: http://righttoenergy.org . (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)