European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire stated at the 50th anniversary of the International Energy Agency (IEA) at the OECD on Tuesday that the war in Ukraine forced the EU to accelerate its energy transition.
Last year in 2023, for the first time ever, we produced more electricity from wind and sun than from gas.
Von der Leyen recalled the efforts made by the EU and Europeans in recent years to deal with the successive COVID-19 crises and the war in Ukraine.
“One in five units of energy consumed in the European Union came from Russian fossil fuels. Today, it is one in 20. We got more energy overall from renewables in the European Union than from Russia […] He [Putin] really pushed the green transition.”
In addition to close co-operation with the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, von der Leyen also intends to forge new partnerships with Mediterranean nations such as Tunisia and Mauritania.
The IEA is pushing for supplier diversification, especially for critical raw materials, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol stated. French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire declared:
Ursula von der Leyen’s ‘fit for 55’ package, the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and others which will meet these challenges. Thanks to Vladimir Putin, we accelerated to be more independent, more sovereign as far as energy is concerned.
Le Maire argued the need to make the transition from public to private funding through investment incentives and “to put in place as soon as possible the Capital Market Union.”
The Capital Markets Union is an EU initiative aimed at establishing a true single capital market across the EU and ensuring a more unrestricted flow of investment and savings.
