UvdL says plan to set the EU on a new energy policy path will be ready in two weeks

The two-day meeting in London aims to take strategic cooperation between the participants to a new level. The meeting will bring together a wide range of country delegates and energy industry stakeholders. The event also provided a further opportunity for talks between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer - ultimately to reinvigorate cooperation between the EU and its former member state.

Speaking at a press conference at the end of the day, Starmer said that the world has taken a big turn, not only in defence but also in trade, adding that the two areas are closely linked by energy.

He attributes past recessions in his country mainly to dependence on fossil fuels, and hence "rollercoaster" changes in energy prices.

We’re also paying the price for our over-exposure over many years, [...] It’s our determination that working people should not be exposed like this anymore,

the British PM emphasized.

Starmer sees the solution in renewable energies, including wind power, and carbon capture and storage (CCS technology), which he has announced two major projects to address:

• a £300 million investment fund to finance the installation of wind turbines, and
• a £2 billion agreement to support carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects.

The British Prime Minister made it clear that the EU must never be in a position to be blackmailed by Russia over energy, and that until Moscow gives up its territorial claims, its energy export revenues must be reduced.

He also highlighted the Global Clean Power Alliance (GCPA), an international coalition led by the UK. Its primary goal is to accelerate the global transition to clean energy by bringing together countries from the global North and South to achieve ambitious climate and energy goals.

Europe ready to cooperate

In Europe, we witnessed firsthand how Russia intentionally weaponised energy supplies,

Ursula von der Leyen began her speech after the British Prime Minister, recalling the serious consequences of the energy crisis in 2022.

In her speech, she stressed that at the beginning of the decade, 45% of the European Union's natural gas imports, 50% of its coal imports and almost a third of its oil imports came from Russia. This vulnerability had serious consequences:

For decades, we failed to recognise the costs that came with this dependence. The risk of blackmail, economic coercion, prices shocks; that reality was exposed after the full-scale invasion of
Ukraine.

However, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Europe was quick to respond: "We answered with REPowerEU. We diversified our supply. We accelerated the clean energy transition." The results, as presented by the Commission President, are spectacular:

• Russia's share of natural gas imports has fallen from 45% to just 18%.
• For oil, the change is even more dramatic: the share of Russian oil in total imports has fallen to a tenth.
• And for coal, there has been a complete turnaround - the EU has completely eliminated the use of Russian coal for energy production.

In sum, we cut funding for Russia's war economy and strengthened our energy security,

she said.

The Commission President expressed special thanks for the international support during the energy crisis.

[...] we havenot forgotten how the United States immediately stepped in with LNG when we needed it during the energy crisis. And how we received additional pipeline gas from Norway. And how countries further away, like Japan and the Republic of Korea, worked very closely with us on global markets, to ensure our immediate energy security. These energy partnerships, including imports of LNG from the United States, remain of strategic importance for the European Union.

It is worth highlighting this speech, as there are ongoing background discussions on what kind of trade deal the EU and the US can strike to avoid a tariff war. One leg of this could be the aforementioned US LNG shipments.

The Commission president also announced that

In two weeks, our Energy Commissioner, Dan Jørgensen, will present a roadmap, with concrete measures to phase out all imports of Russian fossil fuels. So that we will no longer rely on a hostile power for our energy supply.

This specific remark is about the EU's previously announced plan to phase out all Russian fossil fuels from the European Union by 2027. Although the plan was originally due to be published in the first quarter of this year, it now looks set to go live by 8 May.

Von der Leyen stressed that long-term energy security is not guaranteed by alternative fossil sources, but by domestic renewables. Among other things, she stressed:

• Renewables now account for 47% of the EU's electricity mix.

• Last year, 78 GW of new renewable capacity was installed - enough to supply London 16 times over.

• The EU aims to triple renewables and double energy efficiency by 2030 (in line with the commitments made at COP28).

The President also underlined that energy independence also requires support for clean industry. The EU is therefore mobilising €100 billion under the Clean Industrial Deal, which could lead to highly skilled jobs, lower energy prices and greater energy autonomy - to which the related Action Plan for Affordable Energy will contribute.

She also drew attention to the strategic importance of critical raw materials:

These minerals are the building blocks of the clean transition.

Von der Leyen commended the International Energy Agency for its role in the process. She highlighted that the European Union has signed ten strategic raw material agreements with partner countries, and launched the Clean Trade and Investment Partnership with South Africa that will see Europe invest EUR 4.4 billion in clean energy projects in the African country.

At the end of her speech, von der Leyen listed 5 key steps to enhance energy security:

• As well as setting directions, there is also a need to keep track of progress, for example by launching the Global Energy Transition Forum to help monitor the COP28 targets.
• Supporting external projects: in her speech, she stressed that the green transition should not be seen as a goal within the European Union alone - instead, it should be seen as a global responsibility (see Global Gateway programme). In particular, it is important to support less developed regions to achieve their own sustainability goals and to benefit from the clean energy transition.
• Access to critical raw materials: she also pointed out that agreements and investments that will provide the European Union with the necessary raw materials are an essential strategic element of the green transition, and she highlighted Africa as a future partner.
• Energy infrastructure developments, such as the Italian-Tunisian or Greek-Egyptian interconnections, which will help the EU diversify its energy supply to the south in the future.
• Infrastructure protection: together with NATO, against both physical and cyber-attacks - with special mention of recent deep sea cable incidents.

As the saying goes: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together'. And we want to go far,

the EC President concluded her speech.

Cover photo (for illustration purposes only): Getty Images