GENERAL INFORMATION
The Policy Conference held during the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) is the biggest conference dedicated to renewable energy and energy efficiency in Europe. The conference hosts sessions organised by the European Commission and by stakeholders active in the field of clean energy. These sessions provide an opportunity to present and debate new policy developments, best practices, and new ideas supporting the European Union’s transition towards an energy-efficient, renewable energy-based, climate-neutral, competitive, and resilient economy.
The 2026 edition will be organised as a hybrid event between 9 and 11 June 2026. All policy sessions will be onsite across two venues in Brussels, Belgium. We encourage speakers and participants to attend onsite to benefit fully from the networking possibilities and the Energy Fair.
The theme for the European Sustainable Energy Week Policy Conference 2026 will be: 'A clean, secure and competitive Energy Union'.
We invite applicants to submit their policy session ideas and contribute to the discussion.
Policy session format
The standard duration of a session is 90 minutes, and the format is up to the applicants (debate, workshop, panel discussion, campfire sessions, soapbox, etc.), but a creative approach is encouraged.
Due to technical constraints, the number of speakers is limited to a maximum of seven, including the moderator.
Moderation is a key aspect of the interactivity of the session. The moderators’ role should not be limited to just giving the floor to speakers but should rather foster discussion and engage with the audience. Experienced moderators should be arranged by the session organisers. If you do not have any suitable option available, you can indicate on the application form that you would like the support of the EUSEW Secretariat to identify a moderator for your session.
We recommend having the speakers onsite as much as possible to foster networking between speakers and the audience in the room.
All sessions must adhere to the principles of gender balance, diversity of opinion, and interactivity.
Successful applicants will be supported by the event organising and technical teams (i.e., for registration, logistics, web-streaming services, training, general promotion, etc.). Nevertheless, session organisers are responsible for the preparation and promotion of their session, including the timely provision of session details for the online programme and the use of the communication toolkit, etc.
Applicants must comply with these guidelines, as provided by the European Sustainable Energy Week’s organising team.
EUSEW encourages youth participation in the sessions and intergenerational dialogue in the discussions around clean energy policy.
The call for sessions for the European Sustainable Energy Week Policy Conference is open to:
- Organisations that fulfil the following criteria:
○ They work as multipliers using a widespread network of contacts across Europe.
○ They contribute to the development and implementation of clean energy policy.
○ They apply jointly with at least one other organisation. - Representatives of EU institutions and public bodies, including inter-institutional bodies.
Examples of eligible types of organisations include:
- European institutions and bodies or international organisations;
- Consortia of EU-funded projects;
- National, regional/local authorities, agencies, or other public bodies (including their networks);
- Business, industry, or professional associations;
- non-governmental organisations (consumer associations, environmental organisations, etc.);
- Citizens' groups (energy cooperatives, energy communities, youth groups, etc.);
- R&I organisations (research institutes, universities, scientific foundations, and technical colleges, think tanks, etc.); and
- Media and press corps.
Professional event organisers or businesses aiming to promote specific products or services are not eligible.
The application form only allows you to complete one policy session proposal at a time. You may save your application as a draft to make as many changes as you wish, but note that once your application is submitted, you will not be able to change it. Following your submission, you should receive an application number, which should be referenced in all communication with the EUSEW Secretariat.
When filling in the form, please take into consideration the following guidance:
- Each application should be submitted by two different organisations, with at least one being an umbrella organisation (an umbrella organisation is an association that formally incorporates other institutions working together towards the same goal or interest, such as youth, consumer, or industry associations). While other organisations can also contribute to the session, each application must specify two lead entities including a contact person for each.
- Define the session objective(s) and fill in the application form as precisely as possible.
- An application needs to demonstrate that it includes a plurality and diversity of opinions or voices, by including a variety of stakeholders as speakers. The Policy Conference is a platform for constructive exchanges and debate on clean energy issues.
- Focus on fine-tuning the agenda according to the criteria outlined above and highlight the profile of each speaker (average of one line per speaker). Please confirm whether the speakers and moderators have already agreed to participate in the session. Specific attention should be paid to gender balance.
- Make sure you allocate sufficient time to facilitate interactions between the different speakers and the audience. A minimum of ¼ of the time of your session should be dedicated to Q&A or other interactive elements (such as word clouds, polls, quizzes, etc.).
- Give some thought to your title; it should be precise – so that all attendees understand the topic of the session. Make it appealing to the EUSEW audience and avoid buzzwords and acronyms as much as possible. The organisation reserves the right to suggest an alternative title should the one proposed not meet these criteria.
- The same organisation can only submit up to two applications as organiser to ensure a diversity of topics or proposals across the programme.
- For inspiration, see last year’s sessions.
Proposals for hosting a session at the Policy Conference will be evaluated by a selection panel composed of the European Commission staff. Please note that the selection panel reserves the right to group applications or propose the merging of session applications where synergies or similarities can be found. Please be aware that all policy sessions will be hybrid, allowing the online audience to follow the sessions.
The panel will assess the information provided in the application form, with specific attention given to the following elements of the proposed session:
- Concept and focus
- Relevance of the topic (content) and its alignment with one (or more) of the key thematic blocks (below)
- Quality of the agenda
A. CONCEPT AND FOCUS
The proposal will be scored on how well it presents its concept and how the session topic will be tackled during the session. The application should clarify the session’s:
- Objective/purpose (key questions);
- Structure; and
- Format and interactivity.
B. RELEVANCE OF THE TOPIC (CONTENT)
The proposal will be scored on the basis of how relevant it is for Europe’s clean energy policies and what it brings to the policy debate.
Your session should contribute to the current debate in the field of clean energy and the European clean energy transition (2030, 2040 and 2050 energy and climate targets).
Selected sessions will be clustered around specific thematic blocks:
| Thematic blocks | Keywords |
| Competitive and secure Energy Union | Energy prices, clean energy infrastructure, interconnections, resilience, security of supply, Energy Union governance, NECPs (National Energy and Climate Plans), critical raw materials and minerals, skills, innovation, clean tech, digitalisation |
| Energy affordability | Empowering citizens and communities as well as regions and cities, energy prices, energy poverty, Citizens’ Energy Package, housing, youth engagement |
| Renewable energy | Permitting, clean tech manufacturing, electrification, renewable energy sources for industry and households, heating and cooling, innovation |
| Energy efficiency | Reduction of energy demand, energy performance of buildings, products, energy labelling, decarbonising industry, transport and heating and cooling, heat pumps, financing energy efficiency |
| Decarbonisation framework in the EU and globally | 2030 targets, 2040 climate target plan, 2050 climate neutrality objective, European Green Deal implementation, EU-led global pledges, critical energy transition minerals, youth engagement |
C. QUALITY OF THE AGENDA
Proposals will be scored according to the following criteria.
- Profiles of the speakers, their relevance to address the selected topic and the content they will deliver;
- Plurality of opinions among the speakers; and
- Gender balance.
Should your application be accepted, it is your responsibility to immediately inform the EUSEW Secretariat of any changes in the speakers' line-up and planned agenda.
The deadline for the call for sessions is Thursday 22 January 2026 at 23.59 CET.
Applicants can expect to be informed about whether their session has been accepted by beginning of March 2026.
If selected, you must provide the final session description (final title, description of the session, list of speakers, etc.) by early April 2026 at the latest.
Failure to meet deadlines, or major alterations in the sessions’ focus, content, speakers, or agenda, may result in the removal of the session from the EUSEW 2026 programme.
Make sure you check the timeline to see the process that will follow if your application is selected for the EUSEW Policy Conference.
We invite you to read our FAQ section. Should you have any additional questions about the Policy Conference, please contact the EUSEW Secretariat at conference
eusew [dot] eu (conference[at]eusew[dot]eu).
The EUSEW Info Session will take place on Wednesday 3 December 2025 from 11:00 to 12:30 (CET). The recording and slides will be shared on the dedicated page.
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