This article was published first as an opinion piece in Sustainable Views
By Ariel Brunner, Regional Director, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia, Chiara Martinelli, Director, Climate Action Network Europe, Ester Asin, Director, WWF EU, Patrick Ten Brink, Secretary General, European Environmental Bureau, and William Todts, Executive Director, Transport & Environment.
Imagine if Europe chose to spend a half a trillion a year on a dependency that benefits regimes which wish it harm. We don’t have to imagine it. We are doing it right now.
Every year, Europe spends around €430 billion on imported fossil fuels. Instead of investing in a resilient, renewables-based and homegrown energy system, we are paying a massive annual premium for our dependency on fossil fuels.
The resulting pollution continues to heat the climate year by year with devastating effects. The money we pay for our energy funds some of the worst regimes on earth; several of which are actively working to undermine Europe’s security and democracy. From an environmental, economic and geostrategic perspective, this is wrong and reckless. A systemic transition away from fossil fuels and a switch to homegrown renewable energy is our only viable exit strategy from both the climate crisis and geopolitical price shocks. It is also a cost-effective strategy.
In the last energy crisis, €651 billion were used to cushion price spikes and bail out of energy companies. Yet, the EU’s dependency on fossil energy imports has remained almost unchanged at 57% for the past two decades. Therefore, we must act differently and invest in systematically phasing out fossil fuels to reduce our exposure to the next fossil energy crisis.
The good news is that we know what helps: renewable energy, efficiency and electrification through affordable clean-tech such as electric public transport, electric vehicles, heat pumps, solar panels, batteries and smart grids. By embracing clean technologies and ensuring equitable access to them, Europe can become more sovereign and build resilient local value chains and create stable jobs.
Yet, fossil fuel dependency does not disappear overnight. What this situation calls for is thus a major investment boost for electrification, renewable energy and energy efficiency, as recently supported by more than 70 leading businesses. For too long, Europe’s ambitions have been curbed by a lack of funding.
This is why the next EU long-term budget is so important. The €2 trillion investment budget from 2028 to 2034 needs to support regions, households and businesses in the electrification mission, while providing the right incentives to European innovators to design a new clean industrial world map where value-creation in Europe is fostered.
The urgency of the current fossil fuel crisis shows that forging the next EU budget is about building Europe’s master plan for the next decade. We cannot solve a structural crisis with short-term fixes and with business as usual.
First, we need a strictly fossil-free budget. Not a single Euro of public money should prolong harmful fossil fuel dependency. This requires a robust, uncompromising implementation of the “Do No Significant Harm” principle across every single funding stream. Our budget is too small to waste any of it on harmful and future stranded assets.
Second, we must spend more on climate and the environment. A massive, targeted injection of capital is essential to scale up the rapid electrification of transport, heating and industry, fully supported by a modernised, smart European grid. The environmental and climate spending target is the right lever. However, the proposed 35% is insufficient, especially when greenwashing and exemptions make it a de facto horizontal target of 25%. Europe needs a higher target of 50% for future-proof investments.
Last but not least, investment needs go beyond electrification. Agriculture depends on soil, water, pollinators, and a stable climate. Industry relies heavily on energy and raw materials. Cities depend on natural ecosystems to collect, filter, and regulate water, but also to protect people against extreme heat. Environmental breakdown is a security risk. Beyond the urgent need to break free from fossil fuels and reduce our consumption of raw materials, protecting and restoring nature is paramount. Nature absorbs floods, stabilises harvests, stores carbon, and can even contribute to military defence. Few defence investments deliver that many benefits at once. A robust spending target for climate and the environment, and a standalone LIFE programme with earmarked budgets, are essentials.
An opportunity to demonstrate vision for European leaders
In recent years, we have seen European leaders in constant crisis mode. It’s time to take control and present a positive vision for Europe to inject hope and support households and businesses to invest in their own resilience. The negotiations on the next EU budget, which this week’s summit of EU leaders will accelerate, are the right forum to put Europe on a path that ensures security, resilience and long-term prosperity.
We urge you to choose courage. Courage to invest in energy independence. Seize this historic moment to agree on a visionary, transformational budget. It is time to invest in turning off the tap funding petrostates who wish the EU harm. It is time to protect our natural world, guarantee affordable clean energy, and secure a lasting, fossil-free prosperity for all Europeans.
Let’s make this Europe’s last energy crisis.