You are here: Coal industry update | Energy policy

Forthcoming challenges facing European energy policy – all change in the energy sector

Ladies and Gentlemen, the energy markets are changing rapidly and our energy policy has to develop too. The energy sector is of decisive importance for competitiveness and sustainable development, for growth and employment. And having access to energy at reasonable prices and in every home is something that affects everyone in the country.

Commissioner Andris Piebalgs

The current signs are all too clear: we are currently experiencing higher oil and gas prices, while EU supplies of natural resources are on a downward slope. At the same time demand in all sectors is continuously rising by 1 - 2% a year. Many of the developing countries, and especially the newly industrialising nations of China and India, are undergoing a period of prodigious growth. If nothing is done, the EU will become increasingly reliant on imported energy.

If current trends persist, the EU import quota will rise from the current 50% to some 70% by 2030. By then Europe will be 90% dependent on oil imports and as much as 70% reliant on imported gas. Against this background I am convinced that the next five years must constitute a watershed for our energy policy. I would therefore like to set out the priorities that the European Union needs to follow in this area in the coming years.

Nowread more