Strasbourg, 13 March 2025
Opening statement of Commissioner Jørgensen in the European Parliament Plenary debate on the Action Plan for Affordable Energy
“Check against delivery”
Thank you Vice-President, Honourable Members,
According to Google, in my home country the name most searched for last year was actually Taylor Swift. I don’t know what is was in Strasbourg, in Brussels, but I am pretty sure I can guess it was probably Mario Draghi.
Indeed the Draghi report is extremely important and I am sure you have all read it and will know that it mentions energy quite a lot, 700 times actually.
Why? Because European industries pay 2-3 times more for energy than their competitors in the US and China. Because, last year, almost 47 million Europeans were unable to adequately heat their homes due to the higher prices. Because, since the war began, Europe has imported fossil fuels from Russia for an amount equal to the cost price of 2,400 F35 fighter jets. For our solidarity with Ukraine, and for the security of Europe, this cannot continue.
And because we need to fight even harder to decarbonise our economies. When the US steps out of the Paris Agreement, it means that Europe has to step up.
For these reasons and more, the Commission has presented the Action Plan for Affordable Energy, an ambitious strategy to reduce energy costs for households and businesses now, while building a clean, competitive and secure Energy Union for future generations.
The first pillar of our plan is focused on immediate steps to lower energy costs. We set out how Member States can tackle inefficiencies in network tariffs and taxation to achieve a more rational energy system, with significantly lower prices.
We also push for the faster deployment of clean, affordable energy – there will be no back tracking – instead we will fast track. We will reduce permitting times for clean energy projects significantly. For simpler projects, it should take no longer than 6 months to get a permit. Not years, not decades, like it sometimes is the case today, six months.
We also respond to Professor Draghi’s recommendation to decouple electricity prices from gas prices, by boosting longer term contracts for renewable energy, like Power Purchase Agreements. We will work with the EIB to create new facilities to promote and de-risk these contracts.
Additionally, as we decarbonise our economy, demand for gas declines, but it will remain a significant part of our energy mix for some time. Our Action Plan therefore targets fairer gas markets. To this end, we have set up a Gas Market Task Force to scrutinise the operation of EU gas markets, and intervene when necessary.
While the first pillar sets out immediate actions to lower energy bills, the second pillar responds to structural drivers of high energy costs that require long-term solutions. We accelerate our path towards a genuine Energy Union that delivers competitiveness, security, decarbonisation and a just transition, passing the benefits of clean affordable energy to our citizens and businesses.
This means massive investments in grids and interconnectors. According to the Commission estimates, the EU will need investments of over EUR 570 billion annually to boost renewables, energy efficiency, and grids over the course of this decade.
That is why, later this year, we will introduce a Clean Energy Investment Strategy, to streamline the use of financial instruments such as grants, loans and blended finance to maximise impact.
We also need to modernise our systems – through electrification and digitalisation.
Upcoming initiatives announced in the Action Plan, such as the Electrification Action Plan, Heating & Cooling Strategy and Strategic Roadmap on Digitalisation and AI can yield remarkable cost savings and benefits for Europeans: For example, increased electrification could cut energy system costs by €32 billion annually by 2030. Widespread heat pump adoption could slash fossil fuel import spending by €60 billion until 2030.
The third pillar of our Action Plan ensures scale and certainty for investments, by establishing a tripartite contract for affordable energy. This contract brings together the public sector, clean energy developers and producers, and the energy consuming industry.
Our goal is to enable shared commitments and coordinated planning, providing stability in the face of market uncertainties, that would otherwise hold back investments in the clean transition.
The final pillar of our plan recognises that the energy crisis exposed critical vulnerabilities in our energy system – we need to learn from this experience and be better equipped. We will therefore revise the EU Energy Security Framework to strengthen our resilience against emerging threats, and prepare for future shocks.
At the same time, we will enhance our crisis response, to better prepare for situations such as the one faced by Southeast European last summer. We will leverage smarter demand management and better cross-border cooperation to mitigate price peaks and ensure electricity flows where it is needed most.
What do all of these actions mean for homes and businesses in Europe? Taken together, we have the potential to deliver €45 billion in savings, just in 2025, growing to at least €130 billion in annual savings by 2030, and to €260 billion annually as of 2040. Overall, between now and 2040, we can save up to €2.5 trillion on fossil fuel imports.
Let me just repeat that number, that is huge, €2.5 trillion we can save, by deploying faster our renewable energy, by becoming more energy efficient, by controlling the gas markets better, by implementing legislation that is already been made and by interconnecting our energy systems much better than it is the case today.
If and when we do all these things, we will become much more independent of Russian fuels, our competitiveness will be much better than it is today and we will have decarbonised our economy,
Thank you!
Source – EU Commission