In recent years, energy poverty, which affects many citizens across the European Union, has gained recognition as a significant challenge for policy-makers. The European Commission has expressed its commitment to tackling energy poverty and protecting vulnerable consumers who cannot afford to pay their energy bills. However, there is still no common EU approach to this issue, as each Member State is responsible for implementing its own policies to combat energy poverty.

This briefing provides an overview of selected energy poverty measures in five European countries (the Czech Republic, Italy, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia) to illustrate different understandings and approaches to tackling energy poverty across Europe. Although some of the measures implemented in these countries represent good practice in the fight against energy poverty, this briefing identifies further areas for improvement. The briefing also calls upon policy-makers to address all the underlying causes of energy poverty and ensure that vulnerable consumers are included in the energy transition.