EU to appoint Commissioner for Housing and Energy
In a first-of-its-kind appointment, Dan Jørgensen, is set to become the first European Commissioner with a policy remit focused on housing.
With housing expected to be a priority area for the incoming Commission, a new role of Commissioner for Housing and Energy has been established at the behest of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. This Commissioner will lead the Commission’s remit on housing.
The Commissioner for Housing and Energy is tasked with helping to bring down energy prices, invest in clean energy and ensuring that the EU reduces its energy dependencies. Jørgensen will be the first ever Commissioner for Housing – looking at all aspects from energy efficiency to investment and construction.
The new commissioner will be tasked with preparing a European affordable housing plan, as well as the development of an EU strategy for housing construction to support housing supply, reduce building costs, ensure supply of skilled workers, and improve productivity and environmental performance of construction.
Jørgensen has been the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation since 2022, having previously served as Minister of Energy and Climate between 2019 and 2022, and Minister for Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries between 2013 and 2015.
Speaking to eolas Magazine in October 2024, Sorcha Edwards, Secretary General of Housing Europe said that while the new role is “an opportunity to achieve better finance and better regulation for AHBs in their different guises across Europe”, that “there are no EU-level silver bullets to tackle our housing crises”.
“Contexts vary hugely and key levers like tenant protection and planning are local and should stay local. At EU level, we need more coherence to prevent, for instance, EU limits on national debt from stopping financial support for social or cost rental housing,” Edwards says.
“We see this as an opportunity to achieve better finance and better regulation for AHBs in their different guises across Europe so that they can thrive and grow in their role to help achieve housing models that tackle housing exclusion for the good of the society and the economy. Our first step will be to ensure our members benefit from the announced increase in EU funding.”
Currently the Commissioner Designate, Jørgensen’s ratification as Housing Commissioner is subject to a hearing in the European Parliament, which is scheduled to take place on 5 November 2024.
