COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION (EU) 2026/1007

of 30 April 2026

on supporting the development of energy communities and maximising the potential of self-consumption

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 292 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

This Recommendation covers renewables self-consumers as defined in Article 2, point (14), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) and active customers as defined in Article 2, point (8), of Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) engaged in self-production and self-consumption of renewable energy (‘self-consumption’), including through energy sharing as defined by Article 2, point (10a), of Directive (EU) 2019/944. This Recommendation also covers renewable energy communities as defined in Article 2, point (16), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and citizen energy communities as defined in Article 2, point (11), of Directive (EU) 2019/944 engaged in self-production of renewable energy and other types of energy-related services.

(2)

Article 15a of Directive (EU) 2019/944 requires Member States to establish a right to energy sharing that will ensure, inter alia that ‘all households, small enterprises and medium-sized enterprises, public bodies and, where a Member State has so decided, other categories of final customer have the right to participate in energy sharing as active customers’. Consistent implementation of this right is crucial for unlocking new business models, stimulating local investment and improving system flexibility.

(3)

The REPowerEU plan (3) highlights the potential of energy communities and self-consumption to help address volatile and high energy prices, calling for Member States to accelerate the transposition of the Clean Energy for All Europeans Package. The EU Solar Energy strategy (4) specifically acknowledges the high potential of energy communities and self-consumption to accelerate solar deployment. It put forward a shared political ambition to set up at least one renewables-based energy community in every municipality with a population higher than 10 000 by 2025. The Energy Efficiency Directive (EU) 2023/1791 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) asks local authorities of a population higher than 45 000 to assess the role of energy communities in local heating and cooling plans.

(4)

The EU framework emphasises fairness and inclusiveness. Both the Regulation (EU) 2023/955 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) and the Commission Recommendation (EU) 2023/2407 (7) recognise the potential of energy communities and self-consumption schemes, such as energy sharing, to contribute to protecting vulnerable households and households affected by energy poverty. Member States should therefore encourage the inclusion of people, including vulnerable households, households affected by energy poverty and households with persons with disabilities in energy communities and renewable energy projects.

(5)	Well-designed enabling frameworks for energy communities, individual self-consumption and energy sharing can support realisation of Principle 20 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, which affirms the right of everyone to access essential services of good quality, including energy.

(6)

The affordable energy action plan (8), presented by the Commission on 26 February 2025, sets out the objective of making energy affordable, accelerating the deployment of renewable energy, and reducing the Union’s dependence on fossil fuels and energy imports. It also contributes to the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal (9) by strengthening local investment, competitiveness and social fairness through simplified, predictable and transparent frameworks. To achieve these objectives, the Citizens’ Energy Package (10) aims to further increase the participation of citizens and communities in the energy transition, and empower them to produce, store, consume, share or sell their own renewable energy to attain stable access to affordable energy prices.

(7)

Due to their reliance on engagement and often voluntary work by the public, energy communities face distinct constraints in terms of technical capacity, time, and finances that impact the project development cycle as well as the route to energy markets. It is especially challenging for energy communities to mobilise financing at early stages of project development, manage complex administrative procedures, invest in technical infrastructure, or conduct market operations (11).

(8)

To help overcome these constraints and facilitate equal development across the Union, energy communities should be enabled to emerge, diversify and grow, ensuring clear and coherent frameworks, general awareness and fair treatment, minimising regulatory and administrative barriers in all relevant energy markets and sectors, and providing guidance for technical and financial aspects as well as eased access to finance. Support for capacity building can further boost the professionalisation and autonomy of energy communities and technical tools for their design is fundamental for the overall uptake of energy communities. Support for local authorities and particularly secondary structures or federations of energy communities can be an effective means of accelerating their development and capacity to engage in projects that are more resource-intensive socially and technologically innovative.

(9)

Self-consumption of renewable energy faces its own distinct barriers within financing, permitting, grid access and administrative complexity. These barriers disproportionately affect low-income households and small consumers. To ensure inclusiveness, the following are essential: simplification; integration of single points of contact for permitting and one-stop shops; targeted financial support; and third-party financing or collective financing approaches such as leasing, energy-performance contracts or community investment schemes. A coherent approach to energy communities and energy sharing across the Union will help sharing of best practice and deployment of innovative business models across borders. Common principles for definitions, remuneration, grid integration and consumer protection help deliver such a coherent approach.

(10)	Proportionate and non-discriminatory treatment and tailored assistance in grid connection procedures and applications make it easier to access the grids of RES production installations.

(11)	Energy sharing when coupled with demand response, load shifting or energy storage can deliver cost savings for both consumers and energy systems. This requires access to metering and consumption data and data interoperability.

(12)

In line with the Commission’s agenda on simplification and better regulation, this Recommendation seeks to provide Member States with practical guidance to ensure coherent, proportionate and citizen-friendly implementation of Union legislation on energy communities and self-consumption schemes, including energy sharing.

(13)

Member States should simplify administrative procedures for the establishment, operation and development of energy communities and self-consumption and reporting requirements. Implementation should build on existing structures and digital tools, ensuring coherence, cost-efficiency, and minimal administrative burden for suppliers, consumers and national authorities.

(14)

In order to support Member States implementing this Recommendation the Commission intends to undertake a number of measures for the further development and uptake of energy communities in the Union and to support the implementation of Union legislation. These measures are set out in the Action Plan in the annex to this Recommendation.

HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that Member States take the following measures:

when bringing into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with Article 2, point (8) of Directive (EU) 2019/944 ensure coherence between the concepts of active customers and renewables self-consumers (12) in terms of rights and responsibilities relevant to individual renewables self-consumption (13) and energy sharing (14), and by distinguishing those definitions from commercial actors while ensuring accessibility for all citizens, including tenants, multi-apartment residents, and vulnerable households and people affected by energy poverty, such as women and other groups at risk of discrimination which are disproportionately affected.

clearly differentiate between the concept of renewable energy communities (15) and citizen energy communities (16) in terms of membership structure, governance requirements and purpose, and highlight the specific advantages and benefits of specific forms of energy communities, to ensure coherence between them and clarity on their purpose.

when transposing and implementing the provisions in Article 15a of amending Directive (EU) 2024/1711 of the European Parliament and of the Council (17) establish an enabling framework for jointly acting active customers that is consistent with the rights of individual renewables self-consumers in Article 21 of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and active customers Article 15 of Directive (EU) 2019/944;

fully transpose EU legislation relating to energy communities and self-consumption (18) and implement enabling frameworks that contribute to the further development of energy communities across the heating and cooling sector, electricity sector and building renovation sector, allowing energy communities to contribute to overall Union renovation and renewable energy targets.

Governance and Monitoring

develop a national strategy for energy communities and self-consumption, including an assessment of the potential contribution to EU energy objectives by 2030 and 2040 based on an assessment of the potential and barriers in line with Article 21, point (6) and Article 22, point (3) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, and report progress through the integrated progress reports on the national energy and climate plans.

assign a competent authority or body to assess and monitor the potential and impact of financial, social and environmental benefits of energy communities and self-consumption and the removal of barriers in terms of geographical and demographic characteristics, as well as wider policy objectives or targets for the development of energy communities and self-consumption at regular intervals and possibly in coordination with the European Commission including on data collected from relevant stakeholders and the mapping carried out under Article 15b of Directive (EU) 2018/2001.

put in place comprehensive and updated national registries for energy communities that can be used to track compliance, project data and organisational features, without imposing disproportionate fees or administrative requirements related to specific energy activities.

involve consumers, including energy poor households, tenants and social housing residents, social partners, civil society organisations, businesses, local authorities, energy communities and/or their representatives in the implementation of this Recommendation through regular consultation and structured dialogue.

Permitting and System Integration

remove permit-granting procedures for small-scale solar PV and storage installations, introduce measures related to heat pumps, electric vehicles and electric vehicle charging points and simplify related grid connections, imposing specific and reasonable timeframes to inform final customers and energy communities and removing administrative requirements and regulatory obstacles (19) for plug-in batteries and balcony solar PV installations up to 800 W.

10.

ensure timely, transparent, proportionate and simple grid connection procedures, in line with the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directives (EU) 2018/2001, (EU) 2019/944, (EU) 2024/1788 as regards acceleration of permit-granting procedures (20), by allowing the financial security deposit to be recovered or reduced if maturity criteria are fulfilled, by establishing specific timeframes to inform energy communities and final customers about procedures, costs and approvals, by providing dedicated assistance or guidance for applications and easing administrative and technical requirements where possible, while applying non-discriminatory and proportionate treatment in line with the applicable Union framework.

11.

ensure that grid operators account for the expected growth and impact of self-consumption and energy community operations in their grid development plans to allow for anticipatory investments.

12.

where there is insufficient grid capacity and where technically possible, ensure that energy communities and final customers participating in energy sharing schemes can enter into a flexible grid connection agreement with system operators when operating storage facilities or achieving high levels of local self-consumption, in line with Article 6a of Directive (EU) 2019/944.

13.

allow citizen energy communities to manage closed distribution grids, in line with Article 16, paragraph (4) and Article 38, paragraph (2) of Directive (EU) 2019/944, and renewable energy communities to develop and operate renewable heating and cooling networks in their area of operation.

Standardised Approach to Energy Sharing

14.

provide the possibility for energy sharing within the same bidding zone or a more limited geographical area and encourage national regulatory authorities to assess the flexibility potential of local energy sharing, in line with grid topology, and use this information when applying cost-reflective network charges.

15.

ensure that final customers engaged in energy sharing and energy communities are not subject to disproportionate and discriminatory procedures, requirements or supplier obligations in line with Article 15 and Article 16 of Directive (EU) 2019/944, and Article 21 and Article 22 of Directive (EU) 2018/2001.

16.

Provide the conditions to facilitate the national regulatory authorities monitoring tasks of the removal of standalone supplier charges that are fixed and exceed direct costs incurred due to energy sharing.

17.

designate a competent national authority to provide information on energy sharing, including a helpdesk, a list of operational energy sharing organisers, voluntary template contracts, and technical, legal, economic and practical information.

18.

ensure competent authorities put in place simple, transparent and digital registration processes for energy sharing arrangements, and that when the number of final customers engaged in energy sharing is above a certain number it is mandatory to designate this as internal energy sharing to help streamline the communication and registration process.

19.

adopt an interoperable, secure and standardised approach to data management and exchange to operationalise energy sharing.

20.

ensure that relevant metering data are made available near real-time (21) , at least as short as the imbalance settlement period, as defined in Article 2(15) of the Energy Market Regulation (22) , and software tools are made available to all relevant parties, including final customers, suppliers and, where relevant, energy sharing organisers and energy communities including for supporting energy sharing and flexibility services.

21.

ensure that static energy-sharing keys (23) can be revised periodically are made available to final customers and facilitate the gradual transition from static to dynamic energy-sharing keys to optimise value for both the energy system and energy-sharing participants.

22.

enable national regulatory authorities to implement regulatory sandboxes to experiment with allocation and metering across multiple meters and locations, allocation methods, tariff design, balancing responsibility, data exchange and settlement, and consumer protection and taxation.

Remuneration to Maximise the Value of Self-Consumption

23.

accelerate the deployment of smart meters within a reasonable timeframe, and put in place interoperable data-exchange systems to enable accurate measurement, billing and optimisation of self-consumption.

24.

ensure surplus electricity that is not self-consumed behind the meter or shared, can be fairly rewarded based on market signals, reflecting its value for both consumers and the system.

25.

when designing operational support schemes for self-generated electricity injected into the grid, consider introducing market premiums that incentivise the optimisation of self-consumption, including through energy sharing.

Access to Relevant Energy Markets

26.

implement flexible licensing regimes that allow energy communities, in cooperation with a balancing responsible party, as defined in Article 2, point (14) of Regulation (EU) 2019/943, to supply energy or provide flexibility services to final customers.

27.

promote cooperation with suppliers and aggregators, as defined in Article 2, point (19) of Directive (EU) 2019/944 to facilitate the trading of energy or flexibility on behalf of energy communities or final customers entering into power purchase agreements, peer-to-peer trading arrangements, or flexibility service contracts, while ensuring that safeguard clauses are put in place that protect energy communities, active customers and renewable self-consumers from abuses by more powerful market actors.

28.

ensure that minimum bid sizes, contract durations, market access models, and prequalification requirements for local energy service markets allow for smaller aggregated assets managed by energy communities or energy sharing groups to participate directly or through an aggregator and establish regulatory sandboxes to test and adapt such market design elements in a controlled environment.

Access to Public Funding and Private Financing

29.

provide investment support for integrated systems including small-scale solar PV installations, storage or renewable heating and cooling systems, including as part of building renovation programmes focusing on vulnerable communities.

30.

reflect on the feasibility to apply reduced VAT rates or exemptions on specific highly efficient, clean heating systems, as well as solar panels, in line with the VAT Directive 2006/112/EC (24) as amended by Council Directive (EU) 2022/542 (25) on rates of value added tax.

31.

make full use of the existing Cohesion Funds and other relevant Union funding available under the 2021–2027 programming period and other financing instruments to provide financial support to energy communities and self-consumption schemes in both urban and rural areas and coal regions in transition or other regions particularly affected by the transition to a decarbonised economy.

32.

identify where there are funding or financing gaps for the different life cycle stages and put in place dedicated funding programmes and financing instruments for energy communities, especially seed funding at the (pre-) development phase.

33.

ensure that general funding programmes and financing instruments for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects are accompanied by specific frameworks that facilitate accessibility for energy communities (26), in particular through federations of energy communities.

Awareness-raising and Capacity-building Support

34.

promote inclusion of community energy and energy-sharing topics in education and training including vocational curricula, notably through cooperation with universities, vocational and technical institutes and apprenticeship programmes supported by Erasmus+, the Pact for Skills and its Large-Scale Skills Partnerships in renewable energies, and the European Social Fund Plus.

35.

support youth and public engagement initiatives and actions involving representatives of rural and remote communities to raise awareness, promote behavioural change and foster citizen participation in energy communities, self-consumption and energy sharing.

36.

communicate clearly and sufficiently in advance upcoming changes in tariff structures and remuneration mechanisms, accompanied by transition periods and consumer guidance on impacts and opportunities.

37.

leverage existing or set up one-stop-shop structures or similar mechanisms to provide a single online, and if possible physical interface for energy communities and consumers with comprehensive and user-friendly technical, legal, administrative, economic and financial advice, instructions, guidelines and materials such as templates, with the option to submit applications and monitor progress of permits, licences and support schemes.

38.

provide guidelines, knowledge-sharing opportunities, technical guidance, and project management training to local authorities to increase their involvement in and support for energy sharing and energy community projects involving energy-poor households, as well as the development of infrastructure intensive projects like community-led heating and cooling.

39.

promote federations and secondary structures of energy communities and support capacity building to allow them to provide energy-related services and facilitate access to financing and technical assistance services for local energy communities.

Regional and Cross-border Cooperation

40.

enable cross-border participation in citizen energy communities and in renewable energy communities and explore opportunities for cross-border energy communities, in particular in border regions, and remove legal or administrative barriers preventing joint investment, shared grid use or energy sharing across borders.

41.

consider integrating energy communities in existing macro-regional strategies and relevant action plans, with support from cohesion policy instruments and Union funds.

Social Inclusiveness

42.

adequately define the concepts of ‘effective control’, ‘autonomy’, and ‘social, economic and environmental benefits’ as mentioned in the definition of renewable energy communities in Article 2, point (16) in Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and in the definition of citizen energy communities in Article 2, point (11) in Directive (EU) 2019/944, to ensure the concept is used by and for the public, to reduce administration when founding an energy community and to enhance trust in the concept.

43.

promote third-party and collective financing models for energy sharing, including through energy communities to make self-consumption accessible to tenants, low-income and vulnerable households.

44.

promote low-barrier participation models, including no-upfront-cost options, targeted, technical financial and administrative support for energy-poor, tenants and social housing residents, and persons with disabilities (27) and accessible non-digital enrolment and support channels.

45.

include proportionate and inclusive selection criteria that allow energy communities to bid, as well as social eligibility and evaluation criteria in public auctions for renewable energy, support schemes and public procurement or concessions for the deployment of renewable energy sources.

46.

assess the distributional impacts to ensure that the costs and benefits of energy community and energy sharing schemes are shared fairly and do not disadvantage consumers who choose not to participate.

47.

ensure that information intended for the public is also accessible for persons with disabilities in line with the accessibility requirements of annex I of Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council (28).

Digitalisation and Innovation

48.

ensure that energy communities and final customers have access to relevant energy system and consumption data in accordance with applicable Union data protection and interoperability requirements, notably those established under Article 24 of Directive (EU) 2019/944.

49.

promote the development and use of open-source digital platforms, accessible (29) and appropriate software tools and standardised interfaces enabling energy sharing, demand forecasting and flexibility services by final customers and energy communities, as well as provide support for planning an energy community while ensuring cybersecurity and data protection.

50.

encourage innovation partnerships and public-private cooperation that test digital, AI-based and smart grid solutions within energy communities and energy sharing groups under regulatory sandboxes or pilot schemes enabling learning by doing.

Done at Brussels, 30 April 2026.

For the Commission

Dan JØRGENSEN

Member of the Commission

(1) Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (recast) (OJ L 328, 21.12.2018, p. 82, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/2001/oj).

(2) Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal market for electricity and amending Directive 2012/27/EU (OJ L 158, 14.6.2019, pp. 125-199, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/944/oj).

(3) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: REPowerEU Plan, COM(2022) 230 final.

(4) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: EU Solar Energy Strategy, COM(2022) 221 final.

(5) Directive (EU) 2023/1791 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2023 on energy efficiency and amending Regulation (EU) 2023/955 (OJ L 231, 20.9.2023, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2023/1791/oj).

(6) Regulation (EU) 2023/955 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 establishing a Social Climate Fund and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 (OJ L 130, 16.5.2023, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/955/oj).

(7) Commission Recommendation (EU) 2023/2407 of 20 October 2023 on energy poverty (OJ L, 2023/2407, 23.10.2023, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reco/2023/2407/oj).

(8) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Action Plan for Affordable Energy Unlocking the true value of our Energy Union to secure affordable, efficient and clean energy for all Europeans, COM(2025) 79 final, Brussels, 26.2.2025.

(9) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. The Clean Industrial Deal: A joint roadmap for competitiveness and decarbonisation, COM/2025/85 final.

(10) COM/2026/115 final.

(11) See recommendations n° 9 and 10 of the Citizens Panel on Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency Panel - Citizens’ Engagement Platform.

(12) As defined in Directive (EU) 2018/2001.

(13) In line with Article 21 of Directive (EU) 2018/2001.

(14) In line with Article 15a of Directive (EU) 2019/944.

(15) As defined in Article 2, point (16), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001.

(16) As defined in Article 2, point (11), of Directive (EU) 2019/944.

(17) Directive (EU) 2024/1711 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 amending Directives (EU) 2018/2001 and (EU) 2019/944 as regards improving the Union’s electricity market design (OJ L, 2024/1711, 26.6.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/1711/oj).

(18) Directive (EU) 2019/944, in particular Article 2, point (8), (10a) and (11), Article 15 and 15a and Article 16, Directive (EU) 2018/2001, in particular Article 2, point (16), Article 21 and Article 22.

(19) See also the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directives (EU) 2018/2001, (EU) 2019/944, (EU) 2024/1788 as regards acceleration of permit-granting procedures, COM(2025) 1007 final.

(20) COM(2025) 1007 final.

(21) As defined in Article 2, paragraph (26) of Directive (EU) 2019/944.

(22) Regulation (EU) 2019/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the internal market for electricity (OJ L 158, 14.6.2019, p. 54, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/943/oj).

(23) When setting up an energy sharing initiative, a special formula that determines how the shared production will count towards particular energy sharing participants’ energy bills needs to be adopted. This is called the sharing coefficient or sharing key.

(24) Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax (OJ L 347, 11.12.2006, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2006/112/oj).

(25) Council Directive (EU) 2022/542 of 5 April 2022 amending Directives 2006/112/EC and (EU) 2020/285 as regards rates of value added tax (OJ L 107, 6.4.2022, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2022/542/oj).

(26) e.g. through including small scale funding, awareness raising or support for application.

(27) in line with the accessibility requirements of annex I of Directive (EU) 2019/882.

(28) Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for products and services (OJ L 151, 7.6.2019, p. 70, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/882/oj).

(29) Interfaces intended for the public should be accessible for persons with disabilities in line with the accessibility requirements of annex I of Directive (EU) 2019/882.

ANNEX

Energy Communities Action Plan

With its Citizens’ Energy Package Communication COM(2026)115, the Commission sets an objective of increasing the renewable energy capacity installed by energy communities to up to 90 GW. To remove technical and financial barriers for energy communities and to support Member States in the implementation of this Recommendation, this action plan addresses five areas:

1.	Effective enabling frameworks

2.	Access to financing

3.	Awareness-raising and capacity building

4.	Social inclusion and public participation

5.	Digital innovation and system integration

To track progress under this action plan, exchange best practices, and strengthen partnerships between public authorities, communities, and industry, the Commission intends to:

—	develop a set of EU-wide indicators to track the evolution and impact of energy communities as part of the Citizen Energy Advisory Hub (CEAH), and

—	organise a dialogue on citizen energy together with Member States, the European Parliament, and stakeholder networks in 2028.

1. Effective enabling frameworks

To tackle regulatory uncertainty due to incomplete or delayed transposition of EU Directives defining renewable and citizen energy communities, the Commission plans to:

—	Assess the need for further simplification and alignment of the EU definitions.

—

Continue to engage with EU Member States, national energy regulators, distribution system operators, and representative organisation(s) of energy communities on the implementation of EU legislation and Recommendation on energy communities and self-consumption within the context of the annual Citizens’ Energy Forum and Regulatory Roundtable on Energy Policy for Consumers.

—	Monitor national barriers, good practices, and enabling frameworks under the CEAH and other initiatives.

—	Investigate claims of unfair marketing practices regarding energy communities or energy sharing.

2. Access to financing

To improve access to affordable and reliable finance for energy communities, raise awareness among financial intermediaries and managing authorities about available EU guarantees and funds to support energy communities, and to continue providing early-stage grant support through the Energy Communities Facility, the Commission intends to:

—	Raise awareness among financial intermediaries and energy communities on the use of InvestEU guarantees to unlock affordable loans, in cooperation with the European Investment Fund, through the Green Gateway Platform (helpdesk tool, e-communication, webinar) to maximise its uptake (2026).

—	Publish a financing toolbox on community energy, through the CEAH, to guide the public and communities through possible financing models and options and to unlock community-driven, market-integrated flexibility and energy sharing services (2026).

—	Set up a working group on energy communities under the Energy and Managing Authorities Network, following an initial assessment of members’ needs and consensus on its establishment, to strengthen the uptake of Cohesion Funds (2026).

—	Refinance the Energy Communities Facility beyond 2027 to provide seed funding to over 140 energy communities to develop business plans at the pre-development phase (2027).

3. Awareness-raising and capacity-building

Access to energy knowledge, economic and entrepreneurial skills, technical and legal expertise and capacity building is essential for energy communities to grow, scale and professionalise. Therefore, the Commission plans to:

—	inform citizens, local authorities and other persons such as farmers and small-business owners of their rights and opportunities to establish or support energy communities, through the Covenant of Mayors and a dedicated communication campaign on consumer rights (2026).

—	provide technical assistance through the CEAH to energy communities to develop storage, energy efficiency, and renewable energy projects (2026).

—	Mobilise LIFE CET funding to help energy communities to grow, professionalise and scale renewable energy projects and services, particularly through peer-to-peer learning activities and secondary structures (2026).

4. Social inclusion and public participation

Energy communities can contribute to mobilising the public including and protecting vulnerable households and lowering the number of households affected by energy poverty, which also disproportionately affects women and other groups at risk of discrimination. To unlock this potential, the Commission intends to:

—	Provide technical assistance to local authorities to help engage vulnerable households and households affected by energy poverty in energy communities through the Energy Poverty Advisory Hub (EPAH) (2026).

—	Set up a ‘community of practice’ as part of the Public Buyers’ Platform to promote social inclusion criteria in public procurement and concessions (2026).

—	Publish an implementation guide on citizen participation, through CEAH and EPAH, to support policy makers in identifying and supporting socially inclusive and citizen-led energy communities (2026).

—	Support peer-to-peer learning opportunities through on-site training between coal, peat and oil shale regions on energy communities through the Coal Regions in Transition initiative and other relevant platforms (2027).

—	Publish a standardised model contract for cooperation between renewable energy project developers and energy communities (2027).

5. Digital innovation and system integration

By harnessing the potential of digital technologies, data spaces, storage, system integration, and smart grid solutions, energy communities can become an integral component of the modern energy system and lower energy bills. Therefore, the Commission plans to:

—	Mobilise LIFE CET funding to support cities and local partners such as energy communities to roll out smart solutions (such as neighbourhood batteries, EV charging infrastructure, energy management systems, etc.) that help to optimise local energy sharing and unlock flexibility (2026).

—	Promote the integration of energy communities in local energy planning among signatories of the Covenant of Mayors and through local citizen energy dialogues organised under CEAH (2026).

—

Provide Horizon Europe funding to support community-led microgrids and local renewable heating networks as part of the Cities Mission (2026-2027). Provide 12 million in Horizon Europe funding to support the development of AI-based forecasting algorithms to optimise the value of energy sharing for the system and communities (2026).

—	Explore how local energy markets at distribution grid scale could be integrated with the wholesale market in a standardised manner to ensure small, distributed energy systems can operate efficiently and enable scalable flexibility (2027).