The introduction of the carbon price in road transport and buildings should be accompanied by effective social compensation, especially in view of the already existing levels of energy poverty. About 34 million Europeans reported an inability to keep their homes adequately warm in 2018, and 6,9 % of the Union population have said that they cannot afford to heat their home sufficiently in a 2019 EU-wide survey (13). To achieve an effective social and distributional compensation, Member States should be required to spend the auction revenues on the climate and energy-related purposes already specified for the existing emissions trading, but also for measures added specifically to address related concerns for the new sectors of road transport and buildings, including related policy measures under Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (14). Auction revenues should be used to address social aspects of the emission trading for the new sectors with a specific emphasis in vulnerable households, micro-enterprises and transport users. In this spirit, a new Social Climate Fund will provide dedicated funding to Member States to support the European citizens most affected or at risk of energy or mobility poverty. This Fund will promote fairness and solidarity between and within Member States while mitigating the risk of energy and mobility poverty during the transition. It will build on and complement existing solidarity mechanisms. The resources of the new Fund will in principle correspond to 25 % of the expected revenues from new emission trading in the period 2026-2032, and will be implemented on the basis of the Social Climate Plans that Member States should put forward under Regulation (EU) 20…/nn of the European Parliament and the Council (15). In addition, each Member State should use their auction revenues, inter alia, to finance a part of the costs of their Social Climate Plans.

The introduction of the carbon price in road transport and buildings should be accompanied by effective social compensation, especially in view of the already existing levels of energy poverty. About 34 million Europeans reported an inability to keep their homes adequately warm in 2018, and 6,9 % of the Union population have said that they cannot afford to heat their home sufficiently in a 2019 EU-wide survey (16) , while certain regions are forced to use inefficient energy sources for heating due to poverty . To achieve an effective social and distributional compensation, Member States and regional and local authorities should be required to spend the auction revenues on the climate and energy-related purposes already specified for the existing emissions trading, but also for measures added specifically to address related concerns for the new sectors of road transport and buildings, including related policy measures under Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (17). Auction revenues should also be used to address social aspects of the emission trading for the new sectors with a specific emphasis in vulnerable households, micro- and-small enterprises and mobility users. In this spirit, a new Social Climate Fund will provide dedicated funding to Member States and regional and local authorities to support the European citizens most affected or at risk of energy or mobility poverty. This Fund will promote fairness and solidarity between and within Member States while mitigating the risk of energy and mobility poverty during the transition. It will build on and complement existing solidarity mechanisms. The resources of the new Fund will correspond to at least 25 % of the expected revenues from new emission trading in the period 2026-2032, and will be implemented on the basis of the Social Climate Plans that Member States should put forward under Regulation (EU) 20…/nn of the European Parliament and the Council (18). In case the carbon price leads to higher revenues than expected, the financial envelope of the Social Climate Fund will be increased accordingly. Each Member State should set a minimum threshold of at least 35 % of the Social Climate Fund financial envelope available to them to be managed directly by the local and regional authorities . In addition, each Member State and regional and local authorities should use their auction revenues, inter alia, to finance a part of the costs of their Social Climate Plans.