The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, pointed out this Tuesday that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has resulted in a 127,000 million euro increase in the European Union’s imports of fossil fuels. This additional bill has served to illustrate the economic impact of the bloc’s energy dependence and to defend the continuity of the Community’s climate objectives.
"Since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, imported fossil fuels have cost Europe 127,000 million euros more, without receiving a single additional molecule of energy. 127,000 million. Just because the Strait of Hormuz was closed," she indicated during her speech at the business meeting "WinWin" held in Brussels.
The head of the Community Executive has linked this increase in spending with the vulnerability of the European economy to international crises, by underlining that, when the EU buys oil and gas abroad, it also assumes the risk of importing the turbulence that shakes energy markets.
In this scenario, the German conservative politician has reiterated Brussels’ commitment to reducing emissions following the agreement on the climate target for 2040, which foresees a 90% cut, and has assured that the Commission will move ahead with its plans despite the difficulties facing European industry.
"I want to make this absolutely clear. Europe will stay the course. We will maintain our goals and support our clean industries. You can count on that," she emphasized, while defending that the energy transition must also help reduce dependence on imports and strengthen the competitiveness of the productive fabric.
To shore up this strategy, Von der Leyen recalled that since 2021 more than 1.2 trillion euros have been channeled into sustainable activities in the EU, projects which, she insisted, require regulatory stability and long-term visibility.
In addition, she highlighted that the European emissions trading system (ETS, by its acronym in English) has made it possible to cut by around 50% the emissions of the sectors included in the system, while the economy has advanced by 30%, and has generated more than 270,000 million euros in revenue destined to finance investments in innovation and clean technologies.
Von der Leyen has likewise referred to the work to launch an industrial decarbonization bank, with which Brussels aims to mobilize 100,000 million euros to support the transformation of European companies and the deployment of new production technologies.