{"id":453394,"date":"2026-05-13T16:50:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T14:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/05\/13\/ue-non-esclusa-una-carenza-di-carburanti-nel-lungo-periodo-lavoriamo-a-ogni-scenario\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T18:16:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T16:16:03","slug":"eu-a-long-term-fuel-shortage-cannot-be-ruled-out-we-are-preparing-for-every-possible-scenario","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/05\/13\/eu-a-long-term-fuel-shortage-cannot-be-ruled-out-we-are-preparing-for-every-possible-scenario\/","title":{"rendered":"EU: A long-term fuel shortage cannot be ruled out; we are preparing for every possible scenario"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 There are no indications of fuel shortages, but the situation is evolving, and long-term difficulties cannot be ruled out. The European Commission is therefore monitoring the situation and preparing for every possible scenario arising from the energy crisis and the war being waged by Israel and the US against Iran. During today\u2019s press conference to present the passenger package<\/strong> (13 May), the European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzik\u014dstas<\/strong>, sought to convey a message of calm, stating that “there is no indication so far of a fuel shortage in Europe in the immediate future<\/strong>.” In support of this view, Tzitzik\u014dstas reiterated the resilience of the European system: “70 per cent of aviation fuel is produced within the EU<\/strong>, whilst only 20 per cent is imported from Gulf countries<\/strong>.” However, the Commission\u2019s optimism clashes with the concerns expressed by Piero Cipollone<\/a>, a member of the ECB\u2019s Executive Board, who believes Europe could start running out of supplies as early as the end of May. Pressed on this discrepancy, the Commissioner admitted that \u201conly time will tell,\u201d highlighting the EU executive\u2019s commitment to constantly monitoring the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. \u201cNaturally, the Commission\u2019s coordinating role is crucial for monitoring and deciding on collective action. And we are currently working on all possible scenarios<\/strong>,\u201d he stated. “If necessary, we will also adopt some of the policies and decisions taken to assist Member States, airlines or any other sector or component of the European economy, solely and exclusively if necessary, which is not currently the case,” he emphasised. <\/p>\n

If stocks hold up, the economic viability of routes is under pressure<\/strong>: \u201cThe real problem at the moment is the rise in fuel prices,\u201d noted Tzitzik\u014dstas. He explained that the price hike is making many scheduled flights very expensive, leading several airlines to cancel planned routes. <\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, the Commission has reminded airlines of their obligations. Although pre-emptive cancellations are considered “acceptable\u2019<\/strong> in the face of unsustainable costs, Tzitzik\u014dstas warned that airlines “will have to reimburse passengers” for cuts announced at short notice. The Commissioner argued that the EU can rely on the strength of its legislative framework, which Tzitzik\u014dstas described as \u201cone of the best in the world for passenger protection.\u201d <\/p>\n

Despite the war and its global repercussions, tourism appears to be holding up<\/strong>. With the season about to begin, the Commissioner for Tourism, Tzitzik\u014dstas, noted that, following consultations with industry stakeholders across Europe, there are no signs of mass cancellations among tourists. On the contrary, tourist numbers appear to be holding steady compared to last year, a sign that Europe \u201cis a safe and stable tourist destination.\u201d And he launched into a promotional pitch: \u201cWe want to invite everyone to visit Europe, a place that will not disappoint. There will be no problems and, of course, they will be able to enjoy their holidays with their families.\u201d <\/p>\n

But while Tzitzik\u014dstas is offering reassurances from Brussels, the European Commissioner for Energy, Dan J\u00f8rgensen, is sounding more concerned in Nicosia a<\/a><\/strong>t the press conference following the informal meeting of energy ministers in Cyprus<\/a>. According to J\u00f8rgensen, “the Commission does not foresee any very serious problems for security of supply in the very short term<\/strong>, but cannot rule out difficulties in the long term<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

 A development, he pointed out, that will depend on both the situation in the Middle East and the reactions of the markets and airlines.<\/p>\n

The Commissioner reminded that the European Commission has set up a dedicated observatory to monitor stocks, imports, and exports of aviation fuel, while reiterating the need to “step up and redouble efforts to phase out fossil fuels and improve energy efficiency.” <\/p>\n

J\u00f8rgensen then sought to clarify the nature of the current situation: the one that began in late February “is not an energy crisis, but a fossil fuel crisis<\/strong>.” Since the start of the conflict in the Middle East, he explained, “we have paid an extra \u20ac35 billion for energy without receiving any additional supply.” And \u201calthough the European Union is better prepared today than it was during the crises of the 1970s and 2022, with greater use of renewables, more diversified suppliers and improved energy efficiency, this crisis is worse, and we are still too vulnerable<\/strong>,\u201d concluded J\u00f8rgensen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the Transport Commissioner has given assurances that 70 per cent of supplies are produced within the EU, the Energy Minister has highlighted the extra 35 billion paid out and added: “This crisis is worse” than those of the 1970s and 2022, “and we are still far too vulnerable”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7901,"featured_media":453351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[30800],"tags":[34093,33825,26181,26884,33137,33394],"class_list":["post-453394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-carburanti-aerei","tag-crisi-hormuz","tag-ditto-en","tag-commissione-ue-en","tag-jorgensen","tag-ue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7901"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453394"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":453395,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453394\/revisions\/453395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}