Europe's new energy commissioner takes on housing as well as fuel

Europe's new energy commissioner takes on housing as well as fuel

By Julia Payne

The European Union's newly announced Energy Commissioner will for the first time have the task of leading an EU housing division as well as dealing with more typical duties, such as seeking to lower fuel prices and implement green policy.

Dan Jorgensen, named on Tuesday by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as part of her new team, is a former EU parliamentarian and a climate leader in his native Denmark, which has a track record of linking energy and energy-efficient housing policy.

As commissioner, his challenges include helping to implement the EU's ambitious Green Deal to try to keep the bloc on track to reduce carbon emissions. He must also deal with the ongoing impact on energy of Russia's war on Ukraine.

Europe's energy prices have normalised since the extremes of the 2021-2022 energy crisis, but they remain high, making the continent increasingly uncompetitive compared with the rest of the world. Germany in particular has suffered from the loss of cheap Russian gas that fuelled its industry.

A lack of grid interconnections in Germany - the EU's biggest economy - also means a lot of cheap renewable energy produced in the north of the country is wasted and cannot boost the south.

A report by former Italian prime minister and former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi presented to von der Leyen last week included warnings about the continent's economic future.

At the level of individual citizens, rather than big business, Jorgensen will have to address that in part as the Commission's first dedicated commissioner for housing, helping to provide sustainable, affordable accommodation and "addressing energy poverty," his mission letter made public on Tuesday says.

ONGOING CHALLENGES.

He also inherits tasks from previous commissioners seeking to lower energy costs.

They include expanding a joint EU buying scheme started last year by senior Commission executive Maros Sefcovic to help member states source alternative natural gas sources and drawing up a roadmap to end Russian energy imports.

That also means accelerating alternative sources of energy and modernising power grids.

The Commission has taken some measures to improve the permitting process, but many companies complain it is still too cumbersome and has delayed fast charging stations for electric cars and the development of similar stations for electric and hydrogen-fuelled trucks.

As Europe seeks to shift to greener energy, von der Leyen also wants Jorgensen to work with climate chief Wopke Hoekstra to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, which remain present through different taxation regimes across member states.

Another responsibility likely to divide opinion across the bloc is Jorgensen's task to accelerate the deployment of small modular nuclear reactors that require less cooling water. Many projects have been proposed and launched across the continent but the costs are high and funding uncertain.

Infrastructure security is another potential headache after an increase in cyber attacks and sabotage since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.