The European Commission brings relief to European consumers and businesses with Action Plan to save €260 billion annually by 2040.
The EU is at a crucial turning point for its competitiveness, decarbonisation and security, with a clear need to act. Structurally high energy costs are hurting our citizens and businesses. The challenges are clear, and so is the role of the European Union to address them. The Commission is putting forward an Action Plan with short-term measures to lower energy costs, complete the Energy Union, attract investments and be better prepared for potential energy crises. As a key component of the Clean Industrial Deal, this Plan will not only bring relief to households facing high energy bills, but also to industries that struggle with high production costs, with estimated overall savings of €45 billion in 2025, that will progressively increase until €130 billion in annual savings by 2030 and €260 billion by 2040.
The Action Plan will bring short-term relief to consumers and pave the way for the completion of the Energy Union by frontloading the benefits of more renewable energy, energy savings, deeper market integration and better interconnections. Crucially, it proposes actions to tackle the structural challenges that are driving up energy costs in the EU, notably Europe’s reliance on imported fossil fuels and lack of full integration of the electricity system. The Plan builds on the recent reform of the Electricity Market Design, the REPowerEU Plan, sector-specific blueprints for wind, solar and grids and revised energy and climate legislation under the Fit for 55 package.
By accelerating investments in clean energy and infrastructure, and by bringing transparency and fairness to gas markets, energy can be made more affordable. A further reduction of permitting times for renewables and energy infrastructure will also help lowering power production costs. Consumers already benefit from around €34 billion every year thanks to the EU’s internal energy market. Further integration could raise such benefits up to €40-43 billion per year already by 2030.
Read the full press release here
