In his introduction, Commissioner-designate Dan Jørgensen said that energy policy is at the core of all the challenges Europe currently faces – on competitiveness, jobs, growth, security with the war in Ukraine, climate change, and social justice. He highlighted that European companies pay two to three times more for energy than their competitors in the US and China, and that 10% of Europeans are not able to heat their homes adequately during winter.

Top priority: bring down energy prices

Mr Jørgensen said that his top priority would be to bring down prices for industry and people. He advocated fully achieving energy independence from Russia, while at the same time decarbonising the energy mix. He acknowledged that many Europeans are concerned about the ongoing low-carbon transition, and proposed focusing on tackling energy poverty. He also pledged to boost the deployment of renewables via faster permitting procedures, expand energy grids, develop interconnectors, boost Carbon…