Euractiv: 363,000 people in Europe die of cold each year and almost 48 million Europeans cannot heat their homes

Photo: Reuters

The European Trade Union Confederation finds that in 2023 more than 10% of Europeans could not afford to heat their homes, and calls for the EU’s Affordable Energy Action Plan to focus on household bills as well as industry costs, Euractiv informs.

Brussels may have put the energy crisis of 2022 in the rear-view mirror, but for many Europeans it never ended, according to an analysis of Eurostat data by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).

In 2019, almost 30.8 million Europeans could not afford to heat their homes. By 2023, this number had shot up by more than 50%, to 47.5 million people.

Peak energy prices have eased as Russian gas pipelines have been tightened and ultimately closed following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

But energy bills remain structurally higher than before 2022, and emergency support from national governments has been gradually withdrawn.

The European Commission is due to release its Affordable Energy Action Plan this Wednesday, with a leaked version containing a mix of measures to reduce bills in the short and longer term.

But worker’s representatives want the Commission to go further.

Noting that 363,000 people in Europe die of cold each year, ETUC secretary Ludovic Voet said the Commission's plan must include work "on price controls and an enforceable ban on disconnections".

Employment status was also no guarantee of a warm household.

But workers' representatives want the Commission to go further.

Half of those facing energy poverty had jobs, according to the European Trade Union Institute. Citing the figures, ETUC general secretary Esther Lynch called for full implementation of the EU's minimum wage directive.

Pic.: Buergergeld.org