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L'électrification, la solution de long terme pour l'Europe, selon l'UE et l'AIE
Le commissaire européen à l'Énergie Dan Jørgensen et le directeur de l'Agence internationale de l'énergie (AIE) Fatih Birol s'expriment sur la stratégie énergétique européenne.
LIRE L’ARTICLE : http://fr.euronews.com/2026/07/10/lelectrification-la-solution-de-long-terme-pour-leurope-selon-lue-et-laie
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Le commissaire européen à l'Énergie Dan Jørgensen et le directeur de l'Agence internationale de l'énergie (AIE) Fatih Birol s'expriment sur la stratégie énergétique européenne.
LIRE L’ARTICLE : http://fr.euronews.com/2026/07/10/lelectrification-la-solution-de-long-terme-pour-leurope-selon-lue-et-laie
Abonnez-vous à notre chaine. Euronews est disponible sur Dailymotion en 12 langues
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NewsTranscription
00:00Sous-titrage MFP.
00:30Because we've seen, again, major volatility in the energy market.
00:34Where do we go from here, knowing we're about to enter the summer season?
00:37Where do we go from here?
00:38Well, so first of all, in this tragic situation, we do need to still underline that the prices are high,
00:44yes.
00:45But we are not in a security of supply crisis yet.
00:50We are monitoring the situation very closely, and we are working with member states in the union
00:54to do as much as we can to prevent that we get in a situation where, indeed, we will lack
01:02jet fuel or maybe even diesel.
01:05And just to pick up on this point, so your message for Europeans, who, again, they look at prices at
01:10the pump
01:11and they're going, oh, God, here we go again, and European companies, is we are not in a situation of
01:16panic yet.
01:17We can handle the summer.
01:19Well, first of all, we should never be in a situation of panic.
01:22I would say panic is not a good place to be.
01:24But we are in a very serious situation, and I'm not telling people or companies or businesses or decision makers
01:32not to be worried.
01:33There is, unfortunately, reason to be worried.
01:35But we can act, and we will act.
01:37One of the things that I am arguing, that we in the Commission are arguing, and that Fati Birol is
01:43supporting,
01:44is we really need to do whatever we can to electrify our economies as fast as we can.
01:49Because there's many things we can do to be independent of fossiles, many of them take years.
01:55But electrification is something that you can do, and that will have an immediate effect.
01:59The Europeans have also said they will not pay for passage.
02:02But as it stands, do you now begin to factor a scenario in which, and I know it's extreme,
02:07but do you think $100 a barrel oil is possible?
02:12What numbers are you looking at in terms of your new scenarios?
02:16It is, there are so many uncertainties, but the uncertainties are not related to energy sector.
02:23It is related to the politics and what is happening in the conflict over there.
02:30If Hormuz is closed again, we may see upward pressure on the prices with significant implications on the economies.
02:39And you have a number in mind? Is there, in your conversations with the Commissioner, did you say be prepared
02:44to this level?
02:47I don't need to tell the Commission is always well prepared, but I can tell you that the entire world
02:52should be prepared for the worst case,
02:55which we hope will not materialize, but we really need to be prepared for this worst case scenario.
03:04And what does the worst case mean?
03:05If the homeless is closed again.
03:09And prices go up to a particular level? Where do you see a trigger point?
03:13If the price is up today, it is $75 and so on, and it may really push the price up
03:19if the homeless state is closed once again.
03:23And there's a point in which the both of you agree, and that is there's a question of energy security.
03:28Europe needs energy security, and it needs to be able to produce homegrown energy.
03:33Sure.
03:33At this point, how do we make that a reality? Because for a lot of Europeans, they'll say, ever since
03:38the war in Ukraine started, there is no energy security in Europe.
03:42On one hand, that is true. We are way too dependent on fossiles.
03:46We import for more than 370 billion euros worth of fossiles every year.
03:52That number will be much higher this year because we've paid more than 50 billion more for our energy already
03:58this year because of the crisis.
04:00So there's still a long way to go. On the other hand, I will say since February 22, we've reduced
04:07our consumption of gas overall by around 20%.
04:11That's made a huge difference. We've deployed far more renewables. So we save billions every year.
04:16That's not to say the prices are not still too high. They are. But they would have been far, far
04:20higher had we not done these things.
04:21And Mr. Birol, you told me clearly the Europeans had created a dependency in Russia that turned out to be
04:30very painful and also very expensive.
04:31And you also said going back to Vladimir Putin and knocking on the door would be an equally bad mistake.
04:38At this point, is here your message for the EU, but also the G7, that they need to go harder
04:43on the sanctions. This is the time.
04:45I think Europe made a historic mistake in the 1970s when there was oil crisis, 1973 and 1979, oil crisis.
04:55And it had major implications for European economy at that time.
05:00And the Europeans thought it is wrong to have over-reliance on Middle East, that diagnosis.
05:07But the solution, they said, now we put Russia, over-reliance on Russia.
05:13So right diagnosis, wrong solution.
05:16And we suffer a lot in Europe for the over-reliance on Russia after we learn our lesson after the
05:23cutting of the Russian gas.
05:25And our economies and our businesses, households did suffer for the high energy prices.
05:32But once you make it a mistake, but if you do it two times, it is a mistake.
05:36It is what I told the European policymakers.
05:38Just to make this very clear, we are not considering opening up again for Russian energy, on the contrary.
05:44And you're not considering that, but nonetheless, there is an active conversation about the oil price cap as it stands.
05:49There is a possibility right now, it's set at about $44 a barrel.
05:54Of course, the price cap usually tends to be 15% below market average.
05:58The prices have gone up, is there a question, is there a scenario in which this price cap does not
06:03get renewed?
06:04First of all, I think we need to have as strict sanctions as we can, including price cap.
06:11But I just want to say also to the viewers that maybe not understand the nuances of this,
06:14the big part of this, which is that we are banning now import of Russian gas, that stands.
06:20And it's important to say, because sometimes we hear voices, even in Europe, saying,
06:24hmm, in this very difficult situation, shouldn't we reconsider?
06:27But no, that would be a huge mistake, as Mr. Brault said.
06:30What is the key now for Europe to be able to have homegrown energy at an affordable place?
06:35Because what companies in Europe and across Europe continue to say is,
06:39competing on the energy front with the US, which is pretty much self-reliant, and the Chinese, is very difficult.
06:45It is not industry, but the entire economy here.
06:49There is an economic competition between, of course, US, Europe, Middle East, India, China.
06:57And here, in my view, Europe tomorrow cannot suddenly discover oil or gas.
07:04If there was oil and gas in Europe, it would have already discovered many years ago.
07:08So, the important thing is to produce energy as much as possible at home, domestic energy, not to rely on
07:15other countries.
07:17So, here, the main option we have is electrification.
07:21We have to electrify our energy, our economy as much as possible, which means more electric cars, more heat pumps,
07:29industrial, more electrified, and because we can generate the renewables, solar, wind, also nuclear power, and others at home here.
07:40And therefore, we reduce our vulnerabilities vis-à-vis what is happening in this country, that country, as much as
07:47possible.
07:48In my view, this should be at the center of the European energy strategy.
07:52And I very much agree.
07:54Basically, it's about getting the expensive black molecules, gas and oil and the coal, out of our system, and instead
08:01have green electrons.
08:03So, electrification is at the core of this.
08:05And I think it's been overlooked in the discussion until now, unfortunately.
08:09So, next week, we will, from the Commission side, put forward a strategy that will really boost electrification in Europe.
08:15And that was my question.
08:17How do you make that a reality?
08:18This is about deploying a whole range of different measures.
08:21And it's about looking at different sectors.
08:23It's mobility, so transport.
08:26It's housing and buildings.
08:27And it's industry.
08:29It's taxes, yes.
08:30It's transmission costs.
08:34It's something very physical, like the grids that need to be expanded fast.
08:38That means faster permitting times.
08:40And, Mr. Burrell, would you agree to that?
08:42And what do you say to criticism that electrification is great, but if you look at numbers, the speed, the
08:48velocity, in terms of the infrastructure,
08:51it's not moving, certainly not, when you look at the tone and the language that suggests urgency, to the level
08:56it should.
08:57I would definitely agree to those points.
09:01We are far, in Europe, behind the countries like Japan or Korea or China, who don't have a lot of
09:10oil and gas resources.
09:12They put electrification at the center of their strategies.
09:17So, in Europe, we should make the electricity prices affordable for the people, so that the consumers, the households, the
09:24industry should go for cheaper options.
09:27They will not go for electricity because it is clean.
09:30They will go for electricity because it is cheap.
09:33Therefore, we should look at how we set the electricity prices, how we tax the electricity prices.
09:38So, price incentives.
09:39Price incentives and also regulatory measures.
09:42I'll give you one number, which is really very hurting for me.
09:45Last year, 85 gigawatts of renewables added to the European electricity system.
09:51It's a big number, but 600 gigawatts, almost seven times of that, renewable projects finished because there was no grid
10:02to bring it to the homes and to the industry.
10:04They were waiting like this.
10:06So, this is really an economic crime, if I may say so.
10:10So, therefore, I fully support the Commission to put the grids, building good grids for the European energy system.
10:18Ultimately, we've talked about this for many months now.
10:22What's going to break the wheel, ultimately?
10:25I think the issue is with the European leaders and the finance ministers, too, in order to give incentives.
10:33If we leave everything to the markets, it will not happen.
10:36We should intervene, we should give incentives, price incentives and subsidies in different cases in order to incentivize the consumers.
10:47Can I also just add to that?
10:48I'm certainly not the one to neglect the challenge and the problem.
10:51On the contrary, I'm here to say, listen, this is a wake-up call.
10:54But things are actually moving in the right direction.
10:57We have a record number of electric vehicles being sold these months.
11:01Even in a country like Germany, they're now selling more electric vehicles than combustion and gas.
11:05We have a record number of individual households now using heat pumps as a heat source.
11:12All of these things are going fast, but not fast enough.
11:16Now, on the grids part, we need to have more investments, yes.
11:22And we need to have more physical infrastructure, yes.
11:24But we also need to use what we have more flexible.
11:27And that can be done in a smarter way.
11:29So when we combine this with storage, for instance, with AI, with digitalization, not only can we expand the use
11:37of what we already have, we can also bring down the prices that way.
11:42Because it means that we will use the energy when it's cheapest.
11:45And you've talked about proposals that the Commission would put forward.
11:48Obviously, you're fighting hard for this politically, too.
11:51Is it your sense that some member states just simply say, it's nice, but my business is nuclear and this
11:57is just not my priority as it stands?
11:59To be honest, no.
12:00I do actually think that there is a shared analysis and there's a shared also willingness to move forward faster
12:10than what we're doing now.
12:11Of course, there's differences between some countries.
12:13Some are focusing on nuclear.
12:15Some are focusing more on renewables.
12:17Some are focusing on both.
12:20But electrification that we are talking about today is necessary both for nuclear and for renewables.
12:26So this is also why we are arguing, Dr. Boll and I, listen, let's move forward with the electrification part
12:33as fast as we can.
12:34So you don't believe there's a single member state, of course, there's big nuclear countries like France, that is the
12:40core of their energy strategy, that may not be a scheme.
12:44You don't feel that your work is in a way being slowed down by the politics?
12:49Not at all.
12:50I think that even, I do acknowledge, of course, there's a big discussion between renewables and nuclear.
12:56Of course there is.
12:57But on electrification, those electrons, whether or not they're from nuclear or they're from renewables, they still need the cables.
13:04And they still need the grids.
13:05And in that sense, I think there's common ground.
13:09What I will say and where I would like a little bit more urgency is that, as you said, we've
13:16been speaking about this for months.
13:17We have put forward a rich plan that will help spark this transition.
13:22It's being negotiated now.
13:24I'm urging member states and the European Parliament, let's do this.
13:28Let's finalize these negotiations as fast as possible.
13:31In Europe, we like to discuss the things a lot.
13:33Sometimes too much, sometimes not so much.
13:38Some of those discussions are, most of them are useful, some of them are less useful.
13:43In my view, I work on this issue and I just say sometimes, one of the least useful discussion in
13:49Europe we have is, is it renewables or nuclear?
13:52We need both of them as much as possible because we need a lot of electricity in Europe.
13:57This is our independency.
13:59This is our sovereignty.
13:59This is our sovereignty.
14:27We need to connect us pay to integrate Europe better in the energy system that will bring down prices and
14:31make this transition possible.
14:33We are allocating five times more money than we have in this present.
14:37That is five times more than what we have now, where we're already doing good.
14:41I think it's very ambitious and I very much hope that that will be deployed.
14:45Now, is it enough to pay everything?
14:47Of course not.
14:48But nobody is arguing, at least I'm not and I would argue against, that it's public money that pays everything.
14:53Of course not.
14:53But we need private investments.
14:56So it's also about de-risking private investments.
14:59And something like grids, these are long-term investments.
15:02So let's find ways of attracting more institutional investors.
15:07And just as a final point on this, the European Union used to present itself, and perhaps, Commissioner, you still
15:12want to say you still are, as a green champion.
15:15Green is now becoming clean.
15:18When you look at the European Union, Dr. Burrell, would you say, you need additional flexibilities?
15:24Yes, some of this regulation perhaps is too stringent.
15:26Or do you say, you know, on balance, if you take out the politics, it's really not that tilted.
15:32Yeah.
15:33Energy is a good thing.
15:34We need energy for everything, for our, to go to work, for our economy and for the lives and everything.
15:42But how do we produce this energy and what are the implications of that is a key issue.
15:47So therefore, in Europe, we need a lot of energy, especially electricity, which is affordable and reliable and also clean.
15:57And electricity provides all of these components, especially if it comes from the renewables, nuclear and others.
16:05And Europe can do it.
16:06We did many good things in the past.
16:08And this energy regulation, green regulation, climate regulation, you don't believe that is a problem?
16:13I think European leaders, like the Mr. Commissioner, will put all of them together.
16:19There are trade-offs here and there, of course.
16:20In a pragmatic way, we have to find out the electricity way.
16:25And electricity is the future of Europe.
16:27And the good news, the good news is that really, yes, there can be trade-offs, as Dr. Burrell mentions.
16:32But in most of the cases, it will be the opposite.
16:36It will be actually the same solutions that we need to become more independent, to lower prices, that we need
16:42to fight climate change.
16:43And I'm glad you asked it because I personally also think that we speak too little about climate change.
16:48It cannot be that we only speak about it when there's heat waves and forest fires.
16:52Climate change is real.
16:54It's here.
16:55We need to do more to tackle that problem.
16:57And to that, there's still the question of the climate regulation.
17:01We've seen from a number of member states say, this is extraordinary times.
17:04Perhaps we need more flexibility.
17:05When you look overall at the regulation you have in place, is there a fair point to say some aspects
17:11will have to be tweaked?
17:12No.
17:13And certainly not because other countries outside of the EU ask for it, including the US.
17:21But what we will do is, of course, be as pragmatic as we can in implementation.
17:25There will be tweaks and, of course, we'll have to do things differently.
17:28But as long as we stay on track and as long as the targets are still the same, and we
17:33promise to our citizens and companies that we will, in fact, do this, then I think we can be proud.
17:41I would also say that eco, Mr. Commissioner, pragmatism is the right word here.
17:47Flexibility is the right word here.
17:49We should, energy security of Europe is very important, but Europe's regulations are important as well.
17:57We have been flexible and pragmatic here because we had a major gas crisis in Europe.
18:02And Mr. Commissioner and the Commissioners decided to 2027, next year, nullify the imports from Russia.
18:11So we have to be very careful here and pragmatic.
18:14Energy efficiency concerns me more because we're not on track when we look at what's actually happening in the member
18:18states.
18:19So what does that mean?
18:20Should we then just lower the standards?
18:22No.
18:22What we're doing instead is saying, okay, how can we then help make that happen?
18:25And actually the electrification strategy is also about becoming more energy efficient because almost always when you electrify, that will
18:34also mean that you're using the energy more efficiently.
18:37And just as a final question, if I may, under a minute, what's the biggest lesson that you take away
18:42from what has been really a whirlwind six months, Mr. Commissioner?
18:48That we cannot be dependent on fossil fuels. Instead of buying energy and using it and buying it and using
18:55it and be dependent on whatever happens geopolitically in the world, we should have our own homegrown energy.
19:01Yes, it'll need investments. Yes, it'll need political ambition. But these things can be done.
19:08And if we do that, then in the future we'll have cheaper energy, we'll fight climate change and we will
19:12be more independent.
19:13And Mr. We're all hectic. Six months. What do you take away from this? What's the lesson you draw from
19:18it?
19:18It is the world is getting dangerous by day and the energy security is getting more important and energy security
19:29is like national security.
19:31So I think we must in Europe produce energy as much as possible at home and we need to produce
19:41a lot of electricity.
19:43And when we import energy, we have to work with the countries that we trust and get the energy from
19:49those countries.
19:51Well, as always, thank you to the both of you for joining us on Euronews.
19:55Thank you.
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