Brussels, March 10th, 2026 – The Citizens Energy Package (CEP) published today comes at a critical moment. The escalating conflict in Iran and the Middle East is sending shockwaves to global markets, with oil and gas prices rising sharply. As history has repeatedly shown, fossil fuel dependence exposes Europe to geopolitical conflicts and volatile global fuel markets, and it is vulnerable people who bear the heaviest burden. The only way to permanently protect European households from energy price shocks is to phase out fossil fuels and ramp up investment in renewables, grids, storage, and electrification that directly benefit citizens.
The package rightly highlights solutions to support households struggling with high electricity prices, recognising that clean, home-grown energy, electrification, and greater system flexibility can deliver affordability, sustainability, and energy security while generating both social and economic benefits. But it requires ambitious implementation to urgently address the issues affecting citizens.
“The conflict in the Middle East is a stark reminder that, in times of turmoil, it is the most vulnerable groups who bear the greatest costs. Reducing dependence on fossil fuels and empowering people to produce their own energy is the only way to break free from reliance on foreign supplies and volatile global markets, and it should be at the heart of the Citizens Energy Package. Europe’s priority must now be to accelerate investment in renewables, grids, storage and electrification that directly benefit households,” said Christophe Jost, Energy Policy Coordinator at CAN Europe.
On the solutions side, the CEP provides a useful set of measures to reduce electricity bills and help households access clean energy. On taxation, the package rightly highlights the immediate potential to lower taxes and remove levies from electricity bills, but it stops short of issuing long-overdue formal recommendations to Member States. It also includes welcome proposals on shaping network costs, supporting clean and energy-efficient technologies, developing energy communities, promoting flexible retail contracts, strengthening consumer trust, and taking meaningful action on energy poverty.
Yet, the package introduces few truly new measures to further strengthen the social dimension of the energy transition, and it misses opportunities to embed non-price social criteria in renewable energy auctions, such as local benefit-sharing, community ownership, citizen participation, or quality job creation. Public support and meaningful benefit-sharing are critical to accelerating renewable deployment, building public trust, and ensuring a socially just energy transition across Europe.
“The release of the package in a tumultuous time where all eyes are on fossil fuel prices, competitiveness and geopolitics reminds how crucial it is to urgently address people’ needs. It is now up to Member states to implement it and focus on the main drivers of high prices that have been hurting people: continued reliance on fossil fuels,” said Christophe Jost, Energy Policy Coordinator at CAN Europe.
Resources:
- Read CAN Europe’s full analysis of the Citizen’s Energy Package.
- Read contribution for the Package that CAN Europe submitted together with its members.
- Check CAN Europe’s Factsheet: How can Europe bring electricity prices down?
For more information and media requests please contact:
Katarzyna Piasecka, communications coordinator, katarzyna.piasecka@caneurope.org, + 48 516634366.