Brussels, 5 November 2024
On Tuesday, the Industry, Research and Energy and Employment and Social Affairs committees questioned Dan Jørgensen, Danish candidate for the Energy and Housing portfolio.
In his introduction, Commissioner-designate Dan Jørgensen said that energy policy is at the core of all the challenges Europe currently faces – on competitiveness, jobs, growth, security with the war in Ukraine, climate change, and social justice. He highlighted that European companies pay two to three times more for energy than their competitors in the US and China, and that 10% of Europeans are not able to heat their homes adequately during winter.
Top priority: bring down energy prices
Mr Jørgensen said that his top priority would be to bring down prices for industry and people. He advocated fully achieving energy independence from Russia, while at the same time decarbonising the energy mix. He acknowledged that many Europeans are concerned about the ongoing low-carbon transition, and proposed focusing on tackling energy poverty. He also pledged to boost the deployment of renewables via faster permitting procedures, expand energy grids, develop interconnectors, boost Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and new storage technologies as well as so-called “Power to X” solutions.
Help EU industry access cheap and clean energy
During the debate, MEPs said EU industry is under significant pressure and highlighted the challenge of complying with existing targets and regulations. Mr Jørgensen replied that more access to cheaper energy does not necessarily mean more rules, but rather the opposite. He supported substantially reducing red tape on industry, especially on permitting.
Affordable, sustainable and decent housing
On housing, the Commissioner-designate said the Commission would start working to adopt a European Affordable Housing Plan offering technical assistance to cities and member states and focus on the investment and skills needed to achieve this.
In his reply to MEPs questions about making housing cheaper, Mr Jørgensen said the plan would include a strategy for housing construction, the creation of a new platform together with the European Investment Bank to invest in the sector, more funding from the cohesion fund, and a reform of state aid rules.
Nuclear energy
Several MEPs questioned the Commissioner-designate on his stance towards nuclear energy and to what extent the Commission intends to support the technology, whether for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) or larger ones. Mr Jørgensen said that, while the EU will respect the energy mix in every country, nuclear energy will be needed to achieve the climate transition and will be part of the Commission’s clean energy plans. He however warned against increasing Europe’s dependence on the nuclear industry and fuels-related foreign supply chains, which may also be linked with Russia.
The link between energy and housing
Many MEPs asked the Commissioner-designate to address not only higher prices in both sectors, but also the impact of certain green measures on affordable housing and energy poverty.
Several MEPs pushed for additional support to energy communities and updated climate targets for 2040, while others called for the EU to tackle problems in the rental market due to the rise of short-term letting.
You can watch the video recording of the full hearing here.
The Employment and Social Affairs committee Chair Li Andersson (The Left, FI) held a press point after the hearing, you can find the recording here.
Next steps
The committees’ chairs and political group coordinators will meet without delay to assess the performance and qualification of the Commissioner-designate. Based on the committee recommendations, the Conference of Presidents (EP President Metsola and political group chairs) is set to conduct the final evaluation and declare the hearings closed on 21 November. Once the Conference of Presidents declares all hearings closed, the evaluation letters will be published.
The election by MEPs of the full college of Commissioners (by a majority of the votes cast, by roll-call) is currently scheduled to take place during the 25-28 November plenary session in Strasbourg.
S&Ds on Commissioner hearing with Jørgensen: applause for firm pledges on affordable housing and energy
The Socialists and Democrats applaud Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner-designate for energy and housing, for his firm commitments regarding our progressive priorities in these two key areas. Affordable homes for all and bringing energy bills down are two flagship projects of social democracy. The S&Ds put them on the EU’s agenda.
Gaby Bischoff, S&D vice-president for social Europe, said:
“Affordable and decent homes for all is our indisputable priority in this mandate, as we observe record housing costs across Europe hitting hard the young and old, the poorest and the middle class, while the rich are getting wealthier trading human rights for profit. Housing is a social good and a human right, not a commodity for trading and speculation.
“We are proud that we have managed to secure the first ever European Commissioner for housing, and we are happy to see a social democrat in this role. Congratulations, Dan Jørgensen, for an excellent performance today, demonstrating great commitment to progressive housing priorities. The European affordable housing plan is in safe hands.
“Together with the new Commissioner, we will strive for massive investments into affordable, decent and sustainable housing, strict conditions on how to use public and private investments, reform of state aid rules, adequate regulation of short-term rentals, ensuring affordable ownership, social housing for vulnerable groups and student housing, as well as eradicating homelessness.”
Mohammed Chahim, S&D vice-president for energy, said:
“Our main goal is to protect people from new energy price shocks and stop windfall profits. We are satisfied to hear clear commitments to that end from the new Commissioner for energy. Market manipulation in wholesale energy markets not only harms consumers by artificially inflating prices, but mainly jeopardises the EU’s industry competitiveness and erodes trust in the market, discouraging investment and innovation in the energy sector. Therefore, it is important to address the problem at its origin by ending speculations in the electricity and gas market.
“We also welcome a clear pledge to fight energy poverty that remains a significant challenge, affecting millions of households across the Union. To ensure swift implementation of EU legislation on energy performance of buildings – with a special focus on renovating the worst performing buildings, mostly inhabited by vulnerable groups – sufficient fresh resources should be provided to citizens.
“Together with the new Commissioner, we will continue our efforts to lower electricity prices for households and businesses, especially for energy intensive industries. For this to work, it will be crucial to ensure synergies of energy policies are at the core of the EU industrial agenda. This will demand a boost in innovation of sustainable energy technologies for Europe to be in a competitive position and putting forward a plan of investments in electricity infrastructure as the backbone to enable the upcoming electrification action plan.
“We will also strive for initiatives to ensure supply of sustainable, affordable and secure energy. More precisely, putting in the centre the energy security framework with the security of supply, the role of energy savings, system flexibility, energy efficiency first principle, decentralisation of energy production and addressing cross-border challenges in electricity grids.”
Source – S&D Group (by email)
Statements der EU-Abgeordneten Christian Ehler und Radtke (CDU) zur Anhörung von Dan Jørgensen
Der designierte Kommissar für Energie und Wohnen, Dan Jørgensen, hat sich heute seiner Anhörung im Europäischen Parlament gestellt. Im Anschluss erhielt er die notwendige Unterstützung von 2/3 der Koordinatoren in den zuständigen Ausschüssen für Industrie, Forschung und Energie sowie Beschäftigung und soziale Angelegenheiten, inklusive der Stimmen der EVP-Fraktion. Dazu erklären:
Christian Ehler (CDU), energiepolitischer Sprecher der EVP-Fraktion:
“Dan Jørgensen hat sich im heutigen Hearing vernünftig und gut vorbereitet präsentiert und gezeigt, dass er ein fähiger Kandidat für den Posten ist. Als EVP hat er unsere Unterstützung, obwohl er unsere berechtigten Fragen zu Wasserstoff heute nur sehr unzureichend beantwortet hat. Wir erwarten, dass seine Aussagen zu Wasserstoff und den diesbezüglichen delegierten Rechtsakten, insbesondere zu low-carbon Wasserstoff, schnell konkretisiert werden. Hier haben wir noch offene Fragen.”
Dennis Radtke (CDU), sozialpolitischer Sprecher der EVP-Fraktion:
“Dan Jørgensen hat einen extrem professionellen Eindruck hinterlassen. Mit Blick auf das Thema Wohnen steht er vor einer riesigen Herausforderung: Er muss eine große Erwartungshaltung erfüllen, ohne konkrete Rechtsgrundlagen dafür zu haben. Ich traue ihm zu, dass er die richtigen Anknüpfungspunkte findet, um hier in den nächsten 5 Jahren einen europäischen Beitrag zur Verbesserung der Situation zu liefern.”
Quelle – EVP-Fraktion (per E-Mail)