There is a gap at the heart of Europe’s housing and energy debate.
Across Europe, Roma communities face some of the worst housing conditions on the continent. Data from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights shows that over 80% live in overcrowded households, and around 22% lack access to running water. Many cannot afford electricity or heating on a daily basis, not as an occasional occurrence.
This is the result of centuries structural poverty, segregation, and antigypsyism.
At the same time, the EU is promoting key initiatives, such as the Affordable Housing and Energy Plans, which have the potential to level the playing field and ensure that everybody, including racialised minorities, benefits from Europe’s green transition.
However, Market-driven housing will not reach the poorest households. Energy policies that ignore affordability risk deepening inequality. The success of these Plans depends on embedding a rights-based and intersectional approach in their delivery.
This is the starting point of the discussion we are convening during Roma Week 2026, during our Roma in Europe’s Housing and Energy Agenda event. Join us:
📅 22 April 2026 | 🕒 15:00–17:30
📍 European Economic and Social Committee, Brussels
Co-organised by UN-Habitat, FEANTSA, and ERGO Network, this event will bring together key actors shaping Europe’s housing and energy agenda. We will hear from senior European Commission representatives working on housing, Members of the European Parliament, the Council of Europe Development Bank and the United Nations, as well as civil society representatives, testimonies from the ground, and good practices about what works.
The focus will be on what comes next: how EU funding can actually reach Roma communities, why social housing and desegregation must be central to the Affordable Housing Plan, and how energy poverty can be addressed through concrete, community-based solutions.
Don’t miss this debate and register to attend in person: here
Participation is subject to confirmation and availability.
