Brussels wants to ban Russian energy sources in the EU. The measure would significantly increase energy prices on the stock market and make it considerably more difficult for Member States to implement price support programmes for households. This move would have disastrous social consequences, as the European Union is already struggling with serious energy poverty problems even with current prices and support programmes.
New findings from the Századvég Project Europe survey show that more than a fifth of EU citizens are unable to heat their homes sufficiently. This is more than three times the 6.9%[1] recorded before the energy crisis and the war, meaning that the number of energy-poor Europeans has increased by more than 65 million in four years.
Unpaid bills caused problems for an even wider section of the population. The survey shows that one in four Europeans have missed a utility bill payment in time at least once in the past year. The ratio in this indicator has increased almost fourfold since 2021.
Differences across Member States highlight that high relative average incomes do not necessarily protect against rising energy poverty. A sudden, drastic price increase would pose serious livelihood challenges to broad sections of society, even in high-income countries. Based on the results, the Member States that were able to defend themselves most effectively against the social consequences of market price increases were those that applied strict pricing rules and broad support programmes.
For example, Hungary has the lowest proportion of people experiencing heating and bill payment difficulties (9% and 12%), mainly due to the overhead cost reduction. Under this programme, Hungary applies the EU’s strictest price regulation, which prevents market prices from being passed on to consumers, enabling Hungary to offer families the lowest rates in the EU.
Brussels’ new sanctions plan poses a threat to EU Member States primarily because it would cause price increases that would make current price subsidies unsustainable. Ending these programmes would cause utility bills to skyrocket – heating costs in Hungary, for example, would rise to three and a half times their current level – which would lead to further energy poverty and increased social tensions.
In the first half of 2016, the Századvég Foundation conducted a public opinion survey covering the 28 Member States of the European Union to examine the views of European citizens on the issues that most affect the future of the Union. The Project28 public opinion survey was the most extensive ever, with a unique survey of 1,000 randomly selected adults per country, totalling 28,000. The main objectives of the survey were to gauge public sense of prosperity and to explore public attitudes towards the performance of the European Union, the migration crisis and rising terrorism. Following the surveys of 2017, 2018 and 2019, the Századvég Foundation, on behalf of the Hungarian government, continued the research since 2020 under the name Project Europe, which continued to reflect on the most dominant topics in European political and public discourse. The 2025 survey was carried out in 30 countries across Europe, interviewing 30,000 people using the CATI method between 18 February and 17 April.
[1] Századvég has been measuring energy poverty in the EU only since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, so the source of the data prior to that is the Eurostat database.
