Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, in a written answer on 14 July 2026, told MEP Marcin Sypniewski (ESN) that existing EU law and the Social Climate Fund provide tools to prevent disproportionate heating costs for tenants of historic tenement buildings under the new Emissions Trading System for buildings and road transport (ETS2). Hoekstra pointed to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which allows Member States to exempt protected non-residential buildings from minimum energy performance requirements where compliance would alter their character or appearance, and noted that the EPBD does not mandate improvements to individual residential buildings but requires national-level stock improvement with flexibility.
He also highlighted the Social Climate Fund, which can finance renovations, heating replacement, and advisory services for vulnerable households, including those in historic buildings. The Commissioner encouraged Member States to tailor their National Social and Climate Plans to address such specific circumstances, and noted that households connected to large district heating systems (over 20 megawatts) are not directly affected by ETS2, while operators of such systems in Poland can receive free emissions allowances until 2030. The answer did not announce new legislative initiatives or guidelines to reconcile climate goals with heritage conservation, but referenced existing practical resources such as an ICOMOS report and the Historic Building Energy Retrofit Atlas. The response signals that the Commission sees current flexibilities and the Social Climate Fund as sufficient, leaving it to Member States to design targeted measures for historic buildings in their national plans.