The Renew Europe Group is pleased that the European Commission has taken our priorities onboard in today’s announcements. We call for EU leaders to join forces in the informal Council starting tomorrow and commit to the deployment of an immediate, coordinated and deeply integrated European energy strategy. Since the US-Israeli war with Iran began end of February, Europe’s benchmark gas price has risen sharply, standing at roughly one-third higher than pre-conflict levels. Renew Europe stands ready to swiftly act together to empower households, businesses and industries with clean, affordable, European energy.
We must accelerate the implementation of RePowerEU, scale up our renewable and nuclear capacity and reinforce joint gas purchasing via AggregateEU to reduce imports to both strengthen our climate ambition and strategic autonomy and make Europe more resilient to price shocks caused by the geopolitical volatility and Europe’s dependency on imported fossil fuels. Furthermore, we need to deploy coordinated measures to limit price volatility, modernise grid infrastructure, and improve cross-border energy flows across the European Union. To maintain affordable energy prices, the EU Emissions Trading System need to be upheld, while the EU member states need to accelerate permitting for renewables to support both industrial resilience and climate objectives.
However, we remind the Council and Commission that public financing alone will not suffice to achieve the clean energy transition. Renew Europe strongly advocates for the rapid implementation of the Draghi report, emphasizing that unlocking massive private investment is essential to address a required €750+ billion annual funding gap for European competitiveness, where the clean energy transition is a cornerstone. Failing to act would endanger our democracy, prosperity and security.
Christophe Grudler (Mouvement Démocrate/France), coordinator for Renew Europe in the Committee of Industry, Research and Energy, said: “AccelerateEU, yes, but let’s accelerate for real. It is urgent that we keep energy affordable for consumers, but not at the cost of disguised gas subsidies that prolong our energy dependence. The widespread electrification of our grids, our buildings and our transport systems: that is the key to our strategic autonomy. Europe must invest because its sovereignty depends on it.”
Pascal Canfin (Renaissance France), coordinator for Renew Europe in the Committee of Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, says: “In the face of geopolitical crises, starting with the war in the Middle East, Europe can no longer settle for switching gas and oil suppliers. The real answer is to structurally reduce our dependence on fossil imports — and that means electrification. It is time to recognise electrification and decarbonisation for what they truly are: core security instruments.”
