The European Commission has unveiled 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. The plan is intended to bring relief to households facing high energy bills, but also to industries that struggle with high production costs, with estimated overall savings of €45bn in 2025, that will progressively increase until €130bn in annual savings by 2030 and €260bn by 2040.
The Action Plan will bring 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. 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 aims to accelerate investments in clean energy and infrastructure, and bring transparency and fairness to gas markets. The plan will reduce permitting times for renewables and energy infrastructure, which is set to help lowering power production costs. It will make recommendations to Member States to lower national taxes on electricity and enable consumers to switch suppliers more easily towards cheaper energy offers. The Commission will also further support the uptake of long-term supply contracts, which ultimately help break the link between retail electricity bills and high and volatile gas prices.
The plan will support a broader uptake of energy efficiency solutions, which could lead to savings of up to €162bn per year in 2030, as well as step up the scrutiny of the EU gas markets with the help of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and national regulators.
The Action Plan was released alongside the new EU Clean Industrial Deal, a business plan to support the competitiveness and resilience of European industry, and accelerate its decarbonisation.