CFPs: Alleviating Household Energy Poverty in Europe

Objectives

• The European Green Deal sets out to ensure an energy transition that is socially just and inclusive. In accordance with the Fit for 55 package, and in particular the recast Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), Member States shall take appropriate measures to empower and protect energy poor people and implement energy efficiency improvement measures as a priority among people affected by energy poverty, vulnerable customers, people in low-income households and, where applicable, people living in social housing. In addition, the EED (recast) underlines the need to address the split incentive dilemma and remove barriers to energy efficiency measures in multi-owner properties. To ensure more coordinated action on energy poverty, an EC Recommendation on Energy Poverty and accompanying Staff Working Document further set out a series of measures and policies that can be adopted.
• In this context, increasing the uptake of building renovation measures, including cooling solutions, can bring significant long-term benefits to energy poor households, and lead to lower energy bills and improved living conditions. Efforts should focus on offering support to overcome barriers to the uptake of renovation measures in residential multi-apartment buildings requiring coordinated action amongst homeowners and tenants, as well as supporting relevant actors, including public authorities, in designing longer-term strategies and coordination frameworks to mitigate energy poverty at different governance levels, including dedicated financing schemes specifically addressing energy performance improvements for energy poor households.

Scopes

• Policy and coordination support to public authorities and stakeholders
• Support for residential multi-apartment building renovation

Topics

• The indicators for this topic include:
  • Number of energy poor households with reduced energy costs.
  • Number of residential multi-apartment buildings renovated.
  • Number of governance and decision-making structures adapted for residential multi-apartment buildings to facilitate energy renovation investments.
  • Number of agreements concluded between homeowners and tenant associations demonstrating commitment to energy renovation investments.
  • Number of energy poverty observatories and coordination structures established.
  • Quantified multiple benefits, where relevant, for energy poor households, such as improved physical and mental health, comfort and indoor environment, better indoor air quality, improved social inclusion, reduced public health expenditure.
  • Number of energy poor consumers benefitting from the activities.
  • Number of legislative or implementing acts, policies or strategies created/adapted on energy poverty.
  • Other environmental impacts such as reduction of the production of harmful substances.

Funding Information

• The indicative available call budget is EUR 91 400 000.
• Topic Budget: EUR 6 000 000.

Expected Impacts

• Proposals should present the concrete results which will be delivered by the activities and demonstrate how these results will contribute to the topic-specific impacts. This demonstration should include a detailed analysis of the starting point and a set of well-substantiated assumptions, and establish clear causality links between the results and the expected impact.
• Proposals submitted under this topic should demonstrate how they will contribute to the reduction of energy poverty for the targeted households and the effective implementation of the regulatory framework and development of successful coordination structures, which can be replicated in other regions or Member States. Prebound/rebound effects should be taken into account and reported on, where relevant.
• Depending on the scope and as relevant, proposals should demonstrate how they will contribute to:
  • Improved collaboration and knowledge exchange between different levels of public authorities and of social intermediaries involved in the coordination structures.
  • Increased understanding and expertise in the public authorities in charge of implementing relevant EED (recast) provisions.
  • More effective and coherent implementation of provisions, including better planning, design and evaluation of energy poverty related policy measures.

Eligibility Criteria

• In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
  • be legal entities (public or private bodies)
  • be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
    • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
    • non-EU countries: listed EEA countries and countries associated to the LIFE Programme
  • the coordinator must be established in an eligible country.

Ineligibility Criteria

• Applicants which are subject to an EU exclusion decision or in one of the following exclusion situations that bar them from receiving EU funding can NOT participate:
  • bankruptcy, winding up, affairs administered by the courts, arrangement with creditors, suspended business activities or other similar procedures (including procedures for persons with unlimited liability for the applicant’s debts)
  • in breach of social security or tax obligations (including if done by persons with unlimited liability for the applicant’s debts)
  • guilty of grave professional misconduct (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant)
  • committed fraud, corruption, links to a criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorism-related crimes (including terrorism financing), child labour or human trafficking (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant)
  • shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations under an EU procurement contract, grant agreement, prize, expert contract, or similar (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant)
  • guilty of irregularities within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Regulation No 2988/95 (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant)
  • created under a different jurisdiction with the intent to circumvent fiscal, social or other legal obligations in the country of origin or created another entity with this purpose (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant)
  • intentionally and without proper justification resisted an investigation, check or audit carried out by an EU authorising officer (or their representative or auditor), OLAF, the EPPO, or the European Court of Auditors.
• Applicants will also be rejected if it turns out that:
  • during the award procedure they misrepresented information required as a condition for participating or failed to supply that information
  • they were previously involved in the preparation of the call and this entails a distortion of competition that cannot be remedied otherwise (conflict of interest).

For more information, visit EC.