Back to School, Back to Investment: Aligning Funds and Plans for Europe’s Climate and Housing Goals

As Europe returns from summer recess, policymakers, investors, and civil society face a decisive autumn for our climate and housing ambitions. The conversation is no longer about whether we can meet Europe’s 2030 climate objectives but whether we can mobilise the right investment tools to make it happen at scale, and fast.

Three areas in particular demand renewed focus.

First, the EU Competitiveness Fund. Designed to enhance Europe’s industrial base and accelerate innovation. Commission’s proposal highlights areas such like energy efficiency, energy renovation, digitalisation of energy systems, integrated renewable energy, energy renovations, and heating and cooling solutions, clean tech manufacturing, capacity building and skills development and other areas as specific priorities for investment. This fund is par of the EU’s The Competitiveness Fund is part of EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (2028–2034). The proposal is now entering negotiations between the Council and European Parliament, with final adoption expected in 2027.

The success of the Competitiveness fund will be linked to it capacity to attract private capital and whether Member States contribute national resources to joint priorities. Buildings renovation is not only climate policy, but also industrial and competitiveness policy issue. By supporting the supply chains that make large scale and deep renovation possible from construction and equipment to digital tools and skills, the Competitiveness fund can strengthen Europe’s industry while cutting emissions in buildings.

But to be truly effective, the Competitiveness fund must reach the end users of clean technologies: households and SMEs. So far, this group is absent from the current fund’s proposal. Ignoring them risks leaving innovative projects without market uptake.

In SEFA, we welcome the Commission, and the EIB will design the Scale-up facility for SMES and mid-caps. The facility promises financing tools tailored to the needs of scale-ups, including indirect and direct equity and quasi-equity, venture debt, loans, guarantees and blended finance solutions. However, without explicit recognition and support to households who create the real demand, the EU risks undermining its own competitiveness efforts.

Second, the National Social Climate Plans (SCPs). These plans will determine how Member States deploy Social Climate Fund revenues to shield vulnerable households from rising energy costs. But relief is not enough. If SCFs focus only on making utility bills cheaper, the EU will be stuck in a cycle of short-term fixes. The Social Climate Fund must be leveraged to enable structural change: financing deep renovations, facilitating access to affordable green loans, as- service offers and establishing local one- stop shop to guide households through the retrofit process. That is the only way the Social Climate Fund can deliver lasting resilience and fairness. Member states were required to submit the end of June 2025 their SCPs to access Social Climate funding. The Commission will assess the plans over the second half of 2025, with final versions of the plans to be adopted by the end of the year so that the fund can start operating in January 2026.

Third, the National Building Renovation Plans (NBRP). These plans are due under the revised EPBD. NBRP will serve as the backbone of Europe’s building sector decarbonisation. Draft of these plans must be submitted by 31 December 2025 followed by final versions in December 2026.

The challenge with NBRP is to ensure that they are not treated as technocratic box ticking but designed as actionable investment roadmaps. To succeed, NBPRs must integrate private finance, link with the Social Climate Plans, and feed into the Competitiveness Fund priorities. The convergence of these instruments is essential: only by blending EU, national, and private resources can Member States achieve both scale and inclusiveness in building renovation.

The housing sector is where Europe’s climate, competitiveness, and social goals intersect. Unless EU funds and national plans are aligned, members will face fragmented markets, inconsistent demand signals, and missed investment opportunities.

This autumn, as Brussels and Member States sharpen their budgets and priorities, SEFA calls for a new coherence: aligning the Competitiveness Fund, Social Climate Plans, and Building Renovation Plans into one powerful investment engine for climate-aligned housing. The task ahead is immense, but so are the opportunities for European industry, finance, and citizens.

This autumn’s agenda is also shaped by 3 major consultations: the European strategy for housing construction, the amendment of the climate law to include the 2040 target, and the European affordable housing plan. SEFA has responded to each, emphasising the need to reduce barriers in construction markets, to ensure climate ambition is backed by clear financing pathways, and to anchor affordable housing within the EU’s investment framework.

Back to school means back to basics: we need to teach ourselves again that funds and plans only matter if they converge into real, bankable, and citizen-centred investments. At SEFA, we stand ready to work with partners across Europe to make that lesson a lasting reality.