EU imports of mineral fuels from Russia

The High Representative/Vice-President of the Commission (HR/VP) Josep Borrell recognised that the EU had increased its dependency on Russian gas since 2014. Figure 1 shows that, with the exception of crude oil, mineral fuels imports have increased. In 2020, Russia was the EU’s number one supplier of crude oil, hard coal and natural gas, with the exception of LNG. Overall, 47 % of the EU’s gas and 25 % of its petroleum came from Russia in the first half of 2021. The debate on reducing energy dependency is not new. In 2014, EU leaders adopted the 2014-2019 Strategic Agenda recognising that ‘Europe’s current energy dependency is a vulnerability’ and that ‘diversification of energy supply and routes’ was needed ‘to reduce energy dependency, notably on a single source or supplier’. The 2019-2024 Strategic Agenda reiterated that call.