EU further abandons its Green Deal with pledge to buy US energy

As part of the trade agreement between the European Union and the US, Europe committed to making strategic purchases across the Atlantic worth $750 billion (about €650 billion), covering fuels.

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2025/07/31/customs-duties-the-eu-further-abandons-its-green-deal-with-pledge-to-buy-us-energy_6743928_19.html

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The agreement unveiled on Sunday, July 27, between Donald Trump's United States and Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission goes beyond the matter of customs barriers – in this case, 15% on imports of European products, starting Friday, August 1. The Commission pledged that the member states of the European Union (EU) would significantly increase their energy supplies from the US over the next three years. The official pledge is to bring the total value of European purchases to $750 billion (€650 billion) over three years by sourcing American oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) or nuclear fuel – an average of $250 billion per year.

Pending further details, this figure raises questions. According to the online news outlet Contexte, it could represent the sum of investments already planned by European companies. Legally, "the EU cannot compel companies" to make this or that purchase, emphasized Phuc-Vinh Nguyen, head of the energy center at Institut Jacques-Delors, a French think tank. In 2019, China had already promised Trump to increase its energy purchases, but ultimately did not reach the pledged levels.

'Easier said than done'

On Tuesday, July 29, the European Commission said the $750 billion figure "will replace Russian gas and oil" still circulating in the EU. Since 2022 and the start of the war in Ukraine, it has set a goal of ending Russian hydrocarbon imports by 2027. On Monday, July 28, the White House made no secret of its satisfaction, stating that the agreement "will strengthen the United States' energy dominance." Yet the European promise appeared difficult to achieve. To fulfill it, EU countries would have to triple the amount of their transatlantic purchases.

In 2024, across all sources, EU countries spent nearly €376 billion on energy imports, according to Eurostat, the EU's statistics agency. This included about €65 billion in deliveries from the US, according to estimates from the Wall Street Journal. The US has already become the leading exporter of liquefied natural gas to EU countries (accounting for 45% in 2024), and also of oil (16%). "On the demand side, further increasing the US share in the EU's energy imports is easier said than done," said Simone Tagliapietra, a researcher at the Bruegel Institute, a Brussels-based economic think tank. This is especially true as many European firms have already signed long-term contracts with other suppliers.

A 'radical shift'......................