The Social Democratic EU candidate Niels Fuglsang has faced opposition after proposing that all Danish homes should have energy class E by 2035. The proposal was criticized internally within the party on Thursday morning, where several prominent Social Democrats distanced themselves from it. Christian Rabjerg Madsen, the Social Democrats’ political spokesperson, stated that the proposal is Niels Fuglsang’s personal opinion and does not represent the party’s policy. Similarly, the Social Democrats’ lead candidate for the EU elections, Christel Schaldemose, called the proposal “a mistake” and “a bad proposal.”
However, documents show that the Social Democrats’ members in the European Parliament in 2023 voted for a similar, but even more comprehensive, proposal on energy renovation of buildings. The relevant voting report from March 14, 2023, included a series of amendments aimed at shaping EU’s energy renovation goals. Here, the entire Social Democrats group voted for the EU to work towards all homes reaching energy class E by 2030 and energy class D by 2033.
Christel Schaldemose explained to DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) that the difference between Fuglsang’s proposal and the EU’s initiatives is that the EU regulation leaves the financing of the costs to the member countries. Thus, Denmark can decide for itself how to distribute the bill between the state budget and homeowners. Christian Rabjerg Madsen stated in this regard that the Social Democrats support the EU’s proposal because it provides more flexibility, making it possible to implement it in a way that everyone can accept.
However, he avoided directly answering whether the Social Democrats support the idea that all Danish homes should have energy class E by 2035. After the internal criticism, Niels Fuglsang withdrew his proposal on Thursday afternoon.