Listen: What does the EU put on the table to fight the energy crisis?

Production: By Europod, in co-production with Sphera Network.

EUobserver is proud to have an editorial partnership with Europod to co-publish the podcast series “Briefed” hosted by Léa Marchal. The podcast is available on all major platforms.

Find the full transcript below:

The EU needs to speed up the transition to clean energy. That’s essentially the European Commission’s answer to the energy price crisis.

But rolling out renewables — and cutting dependence on fossil fuels — won’t happen overnight.

So what is the commission actually proposing to ease the pressure on Europeans in the short term?

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is still constrained, oil prices are hovering around 100 dollars a barrel… Europeans, like people everywhere, still don’t see the end of this crisis.

So the Commission had to come forward with proposals—even if there’s no silver bullet.

On Wednesday (22 April), it published a communication called AccelerateEU. 

So what’s in it?

First, these are recommendations — not binding rules, and no new funding programs at this stage.

Second, most of the measures are geared toward the medium- to long-term. The commission keeps repeating the same message: speed up the transition to clean energy and technologies, both at the national level and for individuals.

The logic is simple: swap your old boiler for a heat pump, and you’ll see the difference on your energy bill. Switch to an electric car, and you won’t feel the pain at the pump anymore. 

Governments should therefore support such measures.

And at a broader scale: invest in renewables, and energy prices should stabilise. 

So the commission suggests scrapping VAT on heat pumps and solar panels, or introducing social leasing schemes for electric vehicles.

Interesting ideas — but somewhat disconnected from the reality of vulnerable households.

Because all of these solutions require significant upfront investment.

A heat pump? Several thousand euros—even without VAT.

An electric car? Even at €150 a month under a social leasing scheme, you still need access to a charging point at home. Because fast charging at the station costs almost as much as a full tank of gas.

In reality, the only measures that can truly help vulnerable households right now are direct support schemes — like cutting VAT on electricity or offering fuel vouchers.

The commission doesn’t rule those out. But it insists they should be targeted and temporary, so member states don’t stray from EU fiscal rules.

Where the commission is more proactive is in supporting businesses to prevent closures during the crisis. How?

By giving national authorities more flexibility to grant temporary state aid to companies in need.

Normally, state aid is tightly regulated and must be approved by the commission to prevent richer countries from over-subsidising their industries.

But in the current situation, it’s about survival for many European businesses.

Now, what about a windfall tax on oil and gas companies?

The commission was expected to take a position on this.

Its answer: member states are free to introduce such taxes if they want — and the commission will provide technical support if they need. 

But it won’t go further. Unlike in 2022, when it set up a full framework to guide countries.

The commission also reminded that any EU-wide tax would require unanimity among all 27 member states.

And that consensus simply doesn’t exist today.

Another reason this option is being sidelined: its mixed results in 2022 and 2023. As we discussed in a previous episode of Briefed, the tax on windfall profits, introduced across most EU countries in 2022 raised just €28m.

That’s a far cry from the €190bn spent by governments on support measures.

So the European Commission is betting on a deep, structural transformation — one that won’t solve the immediate social emergency, but could help prevent future crises.