European energy policy: full speed towards the wall

[rangerrebew]

European energy policy: full speed towards the wall

What do you do when you realise you are heading in the wrong direction? Hit the brakes, right? In Europe, this is not the case. Instead, the answer of European leaders is to accelerate further, opting for an energy transition that is even faster, more ambitious, and more radical. In the meantime, the problems are piling up. A summary of the key facts, makes you wonder desperately: why isn’t anyone hitting the brakes?

Climate Intelligence (Clintel) is an independent foundation informing people about climate change and climate policies.

European energy policy: full throttle towards an inevitable collision. Image created with ChatGPT.

Evert Doornhof
Date: 25 april 2026
 
The signals in Europe are crystal clear. Energy prices are structurally higher than in the United States; the electricity grid is grinding to a halt; industry is leaving Europe; and dependence on imports is growing. These are not isolated incidents. This is how the system works. And yet, one message is echoing from Brussels and The Hague: let’s accelerate the process.


European energy prices are structurally much higher than in the US, a direct consequence of policy choices.
Source: European Commission (Draghi Report, 2024), based on Eurostat, EIA and CEIC data (adaptation).

This is not bad luck, but policy
In recent years, Europe has deliberately chosen to:
• Close nuclear power plants
• Phase out domestic gas production
• Replace reliable energy sources with weather-dependent alternatives

https://clintel.org/european-energy-policy-full-speed-towards-the-wall/

[Fishrrman]

"The signals in Europe are crystal clear. Energy prices are structurally higher than in the United States; the electricity grid is grinding to a halt; industry is leaving Europe; and dependence on imports is growing. These are not isolated incidents. This is how the system works. And yet, one message is echoing from Brussels and The Hague: let’s accelerate the process."

A Fishrrman "did he really say that??™" prediction:
150 years from now, formerly "Western Europe" is going to more resemble Afghanistan than what it looks like today...

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Europe does not possess the resources to sustain its citizens, similar to Japan.  Like Japan, it must import energy, food and other raw materials to survive. 

Its main product is its manufacturing base and the companies and people who have historically been successful in producing manufactured goods other nations want, with a stable legal and government system in place to support that.

Unlike Japan, the EU does not appear aware of the tragedy that happens when that manufacturing base dissolves as companies move and consumers are no longer interested in the products the EU makes.  One area of concern for them should be their energy cost which, when elevated, makes their products unaffordable.

The US has been supporting the EU for decades by permitting it to export to us at low US tariffs, while Europe charges excessively high tariffs for similar products exported to EU by the US, such as in cars.

That US support is now come to an end, and the EU is withering on the vine as it now must put up more money to defend itself as US scales down its military presence and contribution to NATO.

It will take a common-sense political change for the EU to change the downward spiraling that the likes of Merkel and Macron have caused.

I do not see it happening, and the result will be flight from a resource-weak continent to one offering more opportunity to become self-sustaining.

[DB]

Europe does not possess the resources to sustain its citizens, similar to Japan.  Like Japan, it must import energy, food and other raw materials to survive. 

Its main product is its manufacturing base and the companies and people who have historically been successful in producing manufactured goods other nations want, with a stable legal and government system in place to support that.

Unlike Japan, the EU does not appear aware of the tragedy that happens when that manufacturing base dissolves as companies move and consumers are no longer interested in the products the EU makes.  One area of concern for them should be their energy cost which, when elevated, makes their products unaffordable.

The US has been supporting the EU for decades by permitting it to export to us at low US tariffs, while Europe charges excessively high tariffs for similar products exported to EU by the US, such as in cars.

That US support is now come to an end, and the EU is withering on the vine as it now must put up more money to defend itself as US scales down its military presence and contribution to NATO.

It will take a common-sense political change for the EU to change the downward spiraling that the likes of Merkel and Macron have caused.

I do not see it happening, and the result will be flight from a resource-weak continent to one offering more opportunity to become self-sustaining.

I think you are right. And politically they are parting ways with us regarding individual freedom and basic natural rights. And Canada thinks it can hitch its future to them... What a dumb move...

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I think you are right. And politically they are parting ways with us regarding individual freedom and basic natural rights. And Canada thinks it can hitch its future to them... What a dumb move...

Dumb for Canada anyway.

Canada can provide a lot of the resources Europe does not have