Von der Leyen urges more EU renewables
In her State of the Union speech, the EC president called for more homegrown clean energy with nuclear as baseload to cut costs and boost security.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Photo: miss.cabul / Shutterstock
France, Strasbourg: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered her 2025 State of the Union address at the European Parliament, stressing the need for more homegrown renewables and nuclear energy as the backbone of Europe’s power system.
Von der Leyen said the EU’s single market remains incomplete, with major gaps in finance, energy and telecommunications. Citing IMF estimates, she noted that internal barriers equate to a 45 % tariff on goods and 110 % on services. To address this, the commission will present a roadmap to 2028 covering capital, services, energy and telecoms.
On energy, she said that despite stabilising prices during the crisis and securing supply, energy bills remain a concern for millions of Europeans. “It is time to get rid of dirty Russian fossil fuels,” she said. “We need to generate more homegrown renewables – with nuclear as a baseload.”
Von der Leyen also announced an upcoming “grids package” to strengthen infrastructure and streamline permitting. She unveiled a new initiative, Energy Highways, to remove eight critical bottlenecks across Europe’s energy network, from the Øresund Strait to the Sicilian Canal.
The commission will also propose measures on affordability and the cost of living, with energy at the centre of the plan.
Source: Balkan Green Energy News
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