From local to European: barriers and solutions to tackle Energy Poverty

After three years of hard and successful efforts in tackling energy poverty, the ASSIST project is arriving to its end. It is therefore the right time for the partners of the project to organise a conference to discuss the challenges and the solutions to tackle Energy Poverty at the European and local level.

The event “From local to European: Barriers and solutions to tackle Energy Poverty”, co-organised with the support of the European Economic and Social Committee, will take place on 2 April 2020 at the EESC in Brussels. It will gather various local and European actors dealing with energy poverty, including policy decision makers.

ASSIST experience and the policy framework paper on “Protecting Vulnerable Consumers” will be presented, together with other local and European experiences with synergies to ASSIST.

DRAFT AGENDA

9h00 – 9h25 Opening and Welcome

• Marina Varvesi, ASSIST coordinator
• Pierre-Jean Coulon, President of the TEN section at the EESC

9h25 – 10h35 Round table: How local actions and social innovations are necessary to put vulnerable consumers at the heart of policies addressing energy poverty

Moderator: Marta Garcia, ECOSERVEIS

• Discussion with National Vulnerable Consumers Steering Committee members from Italy, Spain, Finland, UK, Poland and Belgium
• Discussion with the audience

10h35 – 11h20 Challenges to tackle energy poverty: views from EU projects

Moderator: Stefan Bouzarovski, EU Energy Poverty Observatory (EPOV)

• Silvia Vivarelli, Unit B1 H2020 Energy, Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME)
• Marina Varvesi, ASSIST coordinator
• European projects on Energy Poverty

Cezara Popovici, STEP coordinator, Horizon 2020 project

Daan Creupelandt, RESCoop coordinator.

• Clotilde Clark-Foulquier, Project coordinator, the European Federation of National Organisations working with the Homeless (FEANTSA)
• Discussion with the audience

11h20 - 11h45 Coffee break & networking

11h45 - 12h55 Round table: EU policy to tackle energy poverty and protect vulnerable consumers in Europe: proposal and recommendations

Moderator: Mathias Maucher, European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN)

• Maria Jeliazkova, EAPN , ASSIST partner presenting the Vulnerable Consumers Protection Framework Paper
• Member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
• Pablo Sánchez Centellas, European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU)
• Cornelia Ernst, Member of the European Parliament, GUE/NGL group
• Giustino Piccolo, Covenant of Mayors
• Julien Dijol, Housing Europe
• Anne Katherina Weidenbach, Energy Efficiency: Policy & Financing , DG ENERGY, European Commission
• Discussion with the audience

12h55 - 13h10 Closing

• DG Energy, European Commission (tbc)