Von der Leyen urged to ‘make this Europe’s last fossil fuel crisis’ ahead of State of the EU speech

Ursula von der Leyen slammed fossil fuels in her 2022 State of the EU speech. Now, Europe is in the midst of yet another energy crisis. Europe is under growing pressure to produce a “high-level, independent, science-based” report on its fossil fuel exit to avoid another energy crisis. Tomorrow (16 September) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will deliver her State of the European Union (SOTEU) speech. This is a key moment in the EU’s democracy and is used as an opportunity to reflect on the past year, outline the bloc’s priorities and announce new initiatives. The address is typically followed by a debate with Members of the European Parliament to reinforce accountability. Back in 2022, von der Leyen used the SOTEU to address Europe’s fossil fuel crisis, triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and reflected on the 1970s energy crisis caused by Middle Eastern wars. “Some of us remember the car-free weekends to save energy,” she said. “Yet we kept driving on the same road. We did not get rid of our dependency on oil. And worse, fossil fuels were massively subsidised. “This was wrong, not just for the climate, but also for our public finances and our independence. And we are still paying for this today.” Von der Leyen added that only “a few visionaries” understood that the real problem was fossil fuels themselves, not just their price. The cost of Europe’s latest fossil fuel crisis Four years later, and Europe is facing a very similar problem – triggered by the war on Iran and the temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route that typically carries around one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies. Back in July, the European Commission revealed that the EU has spent more than an additional €50 billion on fossil fuel imports since the beginning of the conflict – much of which has been absorbed by households. This is now estimated to be around €70 billion. This is despite the €32.2 billion savings from solar power, which has helped avoid additional gas imports and bolstered home-grown electricity across the continent. The bloc adds that an “accelerated energy transition with electrification at its core” could reduce gas imports by more than 70 per cent and crude oil imports by more than 40 per cent by 2040. EU urged to establish a fossil fuel exit Speaking at a media briefing last week (10 September), Chiara Martinelli from CAN Europe, a leading NGO coalition fighting the climate crisis, said that Europeans are “paying twice” for the EU’s fossil fuel dependence. “Once through energy prices, geopolitical exposure, and the pressure this puts on households and businesses, and again through the human and economic cost of climate disasters,” she explained. “These are not two separate crises. Fossil fuel dependence sits at the heart of both.” As a result, CAN Europe, along with more than 200 other European and national organisations, including 16 industry associations, is calling on von der Leyen to use the SOTEU to produce a “high-level, independent science-based report” on Europe’s fossil fuel exit. “This is not simply a call for Europe to do more on climate. It is a case that ending Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels is fundamentally in Europe’s own economic and strategic interest,” Marinelli added. “Europe has done this before. The Draghi report put competitiveness at the centre of the EU’s political agenda. We’re asking for that same political weight and agenda-setting power applied here.” The Draghi report was written by former president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi in 2024, and warned that Europe risked falling behind the US and China unless it significantly increased investment, innovation and productivity – with decarbonisation and energy security as central pillars. The report resulted in the EU adopting its Competitiveness Compass roadmap, which built on many recommendations Draghi put forward in his report. Marinelli says that now is the moment to make clear that Europe cannot adapt its way out of an energy crisis while fuelling it. She argues that Europe cannot build a secure economy on an energy system it doesn’t control – one where war or blockages of straits on the “other side of the world can decide what Europeans pay to heat their homes. “We already have the chance to replace it with an energy system that is affordable, renewable, secure and homegrown,” she adds. “Von der Leyen named this problem herself, four years ago already. Now she has the chance to end it, and make this Europe’s last fossil fuel crisis.” What Europe’s fossil fuel dependence really means Alongside spiralling energy costs, Europe’s fossil fuel dependency comes with huge economic risks, experts warn. Léa Malfrait from Electrification Alliance says that 75 per cent of EU firms cite energy costs as a “major obstacle” for investment in Europe. The continued burning of fossil fuels has also paved the way for more bouts of extreme weather – resulting in August breaking records as the hottest month globally, joint with July 2023. This summer’s back-to-back heatwaves, which scientists say would have been “virtually impossible” if it weren’t for climate change, caused at least 35,000 excess deaths across the continent. More than 637,000 hectares of land was also scorched, as drought conditions fanned deadly wildfires that resulted in one of the biggest evacuation efforts since World War 2, while early estimates suggest that this summer’s extreme heat alone could wipe out around €180 billion of EU economic output. This is enough to erase the EU’s entire expected growth for 2026.