IEA Chief Faults Europe for Slow Shift Away From Imported Fossil Fuels

According to Lianhe Zaobao, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol said Europe has failed to accelerate its move away from imported fossil fuels since the 2022 energy crisis, calling it a major mistake. In an interview with the Financial Times, Birol said the EU’s electrification rate—electricity’s share of total energy consumption—is only about 23%, which he said is weighing on the bloc’s competitiveness and economic “sovereignty,” and is similar to levels in major oil-producing countries such as the U.S.; he said Europe should follow countries such as China, Japan and South Korea, where electrification exceeds 30%.

EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen said the bloc expanded renewable deployment, improved energy efficiency and cut natural gas consumption by 20% after Russia sharply reduced pipeline gas supplies in 2022, but heating, transport and industry still rely on fossil fuels. He said continued dependence on imports leaves Europe exposed to global oil and gas supply disruptions triggered by Middle East conflicts. The EU plans to set a long-term 2040 electrification target and has previously pledged to raise electrification to 32% by 2030.

The European Commission is set to publish a new plan next week calling on member states to cut electricity taxes and support households adopting heat pumps, electric vehicles and other green technologies. A draft cited in the report said the EU plans incentives to push electrification, including requiring electricity tax rates to be lower than those on fossil fuels, and aiming by 2030 for household electricity costs to be no more than 2.5 times natural gas prices and industrial power prices to be no more than twice gas prices. The report said the measures could be costly for member states that rely heavily on electricity tax revenue, and noted that Greece, Italy, Hungary and Ireland have relatively high power prices versus gas.