The EU’s energy mix is still dominated by fossil fuels: oil and gas account for almost 60 per cent

Brussels – The energy crisis triggered by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues to take its toll on Europe, reigniting concerns among citizens and businesses about supply security. Just yesterday (22 April), the European Commission announced a package of measures aimed at “providing immediate relief” in the face of rising gas and oil prices. But the issue goes far beyond mere emergency management and necessitates the development of strategies capable of reducing, in the long term, the Old Continent’s vulnerability to shocks of this kind. It is against this backdrop that the report published by the Directorate-General for Energy, Climate and Environment at the Berlaymont Building takes stock of the European Union’s energy security, highlighting the progress made and the main outstanding challenges. 

The energy mix—that is, the combination of different energy sources used by the EU to meet its needs—is the first factor to consider when conducting this analysis. According to data from 2024—the most recent available—the EU continues to rely on fossil fuels for the majority of its energy production. In 2024, oil and its derivatives accounted for 38 per cent of the overall mix, while natural gas stood at around 21 per cent. Renewable energy sources ranked only third with 20 per cent, followed at some distance by nuclear (12 per cent) and solid fuels such as coal, wood and biomass (10 per cent). In that year, the EU produced 43 per cent of its energy and imported 57 per cent. Almost half of the energy produced in the EU in 2024 came from renewable sources (48 per cent). 

In a crisis situation such as the current one, according to the report, increasing the share of renewables in Brussels’ energy mix remains essential. “Renewable energy is not only a cheaper and more sustainable alternative,” it is emphasised, “but it also strengthens our security by making us less dependent on imports of more expensive energy sources.” This is confirmed by the 2024 figures on the origin of energy sources used in Europe: while the EU has excellent capacity in renewable and nuclear energy production (accounting for 48 per cent and 28 per cent respectively of the Old Continent’s total domestic production), it faces far greater difficulties in the areas of natural gas (5 per cent) and oil (3 per cent). 

The consequence of such an imbalance, as the report explains, is that “our energy imports are dominated by fossil fuels,” with oil and natural gas accounting for 67 per cent and 24 per cent respectively of the total energy sources purchased from third countries in 2024. By contrast, the shares of solid fuels (4 per cent), electricity (3 per cent) and renewable energy (2 per cent) were significantly lower. 

In light of these figures, according to DG Energy, the long-term objective must remain to continue along the path of the green transition to make Europe a “more electrified, cleaner and more resilient” continent in the face of new geopolitical shocks. At the same time, the EU has begun implementing a number of short-term strategies to address the fact that, as the report highlights, “gas and oil imports will continue to play a key role for some years to come.” These include diversifying the range of importing countries, increasing investment in liquefied natural gas (LNG) and raising gas and oil storage levels. 

It was precisely this measure that proved its importance when the Middle East crisis erupted: “Of the 400 million barrels of oil released onto the market by member countries of the International Energy Agency on 11 March, approximately 20 per cent came from stocks accumulated by European countries,” the Commission emphasised in today’s report. As regards stockpiling, EU countries must maintain emergency stocks of crude oil or petroleum products equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports, while up to 35 per cent of the gas consumed in winter comes from stored reserves. 

Finally, regarding efforts to reduce dependence on Russian resources, the report highlights that the share of Russian gas in the EU’s total gas imports has fallen sharply, from 45 per cent in 2021 to 12 per cent in 2025. In 2025, the EU imported 31 per cent of its gas from Norway, 26 per cent from the United States, 13 per cent from North Africa and 4 per cent each from Azerbaijan and Qatar. The share of LNG in total EU gas imports rose from 20 per cent in 2021 to 45 per cent in 2025.