{"id":120621,"date":"2026-07-17T14:47:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/?p=120621"},"modified":"2026-07-17T14:47:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:47:11","slug":"eu-electrification-plan-finally-tackles-barriers-to-fossil-free-heating-and-cooling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/eu-electrification-plan-finally-tackles-barriers-to-fossil-free-heating-and-cooling\/","title":{"rendered":"EU electrification plan finally tackles barriers to fossil-free heating and cooling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Brussels, 17\u00a0July \u2013 The European Commission today\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/commission\/presscorner\/detail\/en\/ip_26_1596\">unveiled<\/a>\u00a0its Electrification Action Plan,\u00a0<\/strong><strong>proposing a legally binding electrification target, measures to make electricity more competitive than fossil fuels, and new tools to accelerate the shift away from fossil heating.\u00a0 Environmental groups welcomed the plan and called for the power-up momentum to be carried forward and for an ambitious approach to the heating and cooling strategy.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Action Plan rightly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/commission\/presscorner\/detail\/en\/qanda_26_1597\">recognises<\/a>\u00a0that decarbonising electricity generation is only half the challenge. Europe must also electrify demand by replacing fossil fuels in buildings, transport and industry.<\/p>\n<p>he Commission proposes to enshrine an electrification target in EU law as part of the next Energy Union package, commit to reducing the price gap between electricity and gas through energy taxation reform, and introduce an EU framework allowing Member States to reduce VAT on electrification technologies, including heat pumps, electric vehicles and household batteries.<\/p>\n<p>The plan also includes a dedicated Heating and Cooling Strategy, recognising the crucial role of buildings in Europe\u2019s fossil fuel phase-out. However, the EEB warns that the success of this transition will depend on moving beyond a single-technology approach and ensuring that solutions are deployed together.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Davide Sabbadin<\/strong>, Climate and Energy Policy Manager at the EEB, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>&#8220;The Commission is right to recognise that electrification requires more than just installing more heat pumps. We welcome the creation of a dedicated space such as the Better Homes Partnership and the focus on integrated solutions that bring together heat pumps with energy efficiency, renewables, storage and other enabling technologies. The emphasis on zero-upfront-cost business models is also a crucial step to make clean heating accessible to more households.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>But when Europe is investing at scale, we must get the technology choices right. The Commission has missed the chance to steer Member States towards future-proof heat pumps using natural refrigerants, which are already available and protected from future PFAS and F-gas restrictions.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Action Plan includes the following measures:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>A legally binding 46% electrification target for 2040<\/strong>, to be embedded in future Energy Union legislation. This is an important but still timid goal, the EU has the technical potential to fully\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eeb.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/PAC_scenario_technical_summary_FINAL.pdf\">run<\/a>\u00a0on 100% renewables by 2040.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">A commitment to\u00a0<strong>reform electricity taxation<\/strong>\u00a0to reduce the price gap between electricity and gas, alongside measures to make electricity bills fairer. Correcting this long-standing imbalance is essential to mainstream fossil-free technologies.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">A plan to nearly<strong>\u00a0double annual heat pump installations by 2030<\/strong>\u00a0compared to 2025 levels. Scaling up heat pumps is essential, but deployment must be linked to wider renovation and adaptation packages that combine efficiency improvements, renewable energy generation, flexibility and other enabling technologies, as recognised by the plan.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Exploration of a<strong>\u00a0Clean Heat Market Mechanism by 2027\u00a0<\/strong>to support heat pump deployment and reduce upfront costs. This could help accelerate uptake, particularly if it supports innovative financing models and integrated renovation solutions rather than focusing only on individual technologies.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Greater use of EU funding, including<strong>\u00a0ETS2 revenues and the Social Climate Fund<\/strong>, to support vulnerable households and make clean technologies more accessible. These tools must be complemented by adequate national funding, simpler permitting and policies that help households access\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/europeanenvironmentalbureau.substack.com\/p\/europe-needs-independence-kits-to\">energy independence kits<\/a>\u00a0that combine different types of solutions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\nThe Commission also highlights the role of local authorities, proposing support for municipal heating and cooling plans through initiatives such as the European City Facility. However, the EEB warns that the scale remains far below what is needed, with current support reaching only a fraction of Europe\u2019s municipalities.<\/p>\n<p>The EEB also regrets that the plan does not set clearer expectations on the type of heat pumps that should be promoted. As Europe moves towards stricter rules on harmful\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eeb.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/EIA-2024-EU-F-Gas-Regulations-Climate-Briefing-SPREADS.pdf\">F-gas<\/a>\u00a0refrigerants, households and public authorities should be encouraged to choose future-proof technologies that will remain efficient, affordable and easy to maintain for decades to come. Heat pumps using natural refrigerants are already widely\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.euractiv.com\/opinion\/naturally-cool-europe-set-to-lead-a-climate-revolution-with-refrigerants\/\">available<\/a>\u00a0and should be prioritised, especially when public money is used to support their deployment.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ENDS<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Notes to editors<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<li>Carbon revenues (ETS2) could\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coolproducts.eu\/heating-and-cooling\/social-climate-fund-could-subsidise-up-to-20-million-heat-pumps-across-europe\/\">deliver<\/a>\u00a0heat pumps to 100 million households.<\/li>\n<li>Europe needs \u2018independence kits\u2019 to electrify\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/europeanenvironmentalbureau.substack.com\/p\/europe-needs-independence-kits-to\">every home<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brussels, 17\u00a0July \u2013 The European Commission today\u00a0unveiled\u00a0its Electrification Action Plan,\u00a0proposing a legally binding electrification target, measures to make electricity more competitive than fossil fuels, and new<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":120622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,123,144],"tags":[333,700,988,1046,1047],"class_list":["post-120621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-press-release","category-climate-change","category-homepage","tag-renewables","tag-buildings","tag-heating-and-cooling","tag-electrification","tag-heat-pumps"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/META-featured-image-right-size-88.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}