Governing Energy Poverty in the European Union

Energy poverty is a 'growing concern' within the European Union: a significant number of European households is struggling to access or afford 'socially and materially necessary energy services' for their health, well-being and social inclusion, such as heating, lighting or cooking. There is equally an increasing awareness that access to energy is a human right. However, there is limited concrete understanding of how existing international or regional human rights law governs energy poverty action in the European Union exactly. This article fills the gap by providing an in-depth legal analysis of relevant European and international treaties that bind EU Member States, individually, and as read jointly. When taken together, these treaties form a comprehensive 'systemic' international legal framework and touchstone for rights based governance of energy poverty within the EU.