Explainers

At the March 2026 European Council, EU leaders agreed on an agenda of concrete measures with ambitious deadlines to strengthen the EU's competitiveness, resilience and strategic autonomy. 

The European climate law makes reaching the EU’s climate goal of reducing EU emissions by at least 55% by 2030 a legal obligation. EU countries have adopted new legislation to achieve this goal and make the EU climate-neutral by 2050.

In the face of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU has taken a number of initiatives to support Ukraine’s energy security, as well as the country’s transport and connectivity sectors.

Shifting towards clean energy is a must to fight climate change and an opportunity to increase energy independence.

The EU wants to strengthen its energy infrastructure and cross-border interconnections to increase competitiveness and achieve its climate goals.

Find out how much oil the EU is importing, which countries are the EU's main trading partners and which sectors use the most oil in the EU.

Following Brexit, the EU and the UK negotiated a set of agreements to guide and govern the future EU-UK relationship. These agreements protect citizens' rights while ensuring fair competition and continued cooperation.

In an era of growing instability, the EU is acting with determination to strengthen its competitiveness, ensuring prosperity and security for its citizens.

Find out more about the gas storage capacity of EU member states and the filling levels of underground gas reserves in the EU.

Find out more about which sources are used to generate electricity in the EU and how the price of electricity is set based on the merit order principle.