Marcin Sypniewski, a Polish MEP from the Europe of Sovereign Nations group, has questioned the European Commission on whether the EU's new carbon pricing system for buildings (ETS2) will disproportionately penalise tenants in historic tenement buildings who cannot carry out thermal modernisation due to heritage protection rules. In a written parliamentary question dated 3 June 2026, Sypniewski warns that residents of thousands of pre-war tenements, particularly in Silesia, face a double bind: conservation authorities restrict or ban facade insulation and other key efficiency measures, while ETS2 will raise the cost of heating with gas and fossil fuels. He argues that switching to electric or low-emission heating is often prohibitively expensive because of high heat loss, and that the Social Climate Fund may not adequately address the structural barriers these tenants face.
The MEP's question contains three concrete asks. First, he asks whether the Commission will allow specific mechanisms for historic buildings under ETS2, such as compensation or special treatment, to avoid disproportionate heating costs when full thermal modernisation is impossible. Second, he asks whether the Commission recommends that Member States include dedicated instruments for tenants and communities in historic buildings in their National Social and Climate Plans — for example, support for high-temperature heat pumps, modernisation of internal installations, or internal insulation. Third, he asks whether the Commission is considering guidelines or a legislative initiative to better reconcile climate objectives with heritage conservation, so that conservation law does not block reasonable efficiency measures.
Politically, the question targets a tension between two EU policy goals: climate action and cultural heritage protection. Sypniewski frames ETS2 as potentially creating a permanent financial penalty for a group that has no realistic way to comply with the policy's underlying logic of reducing fossil fuel use. The question does not challenge ETS2's existence but seeks carve-outs or compensatory tools for a narrowly defined category of buildings.
The Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks. Its answer will signal whether it sees the problem as requiring EU-level intervention or as a matter for Member States to address through their Social Climate Plans. The reply may also indicate whether the Commission is open to revising its guidance on the interface between energy efficiency obligations and heritage protection.