On 26 May 2026, the Jacques Delors Centre, in cooperation with the Embassy of Ireland in Berlin, hosted a high-level discussion on Europe’s energy policy agenda.
The event took place ahead of Ireland’s upcoming EU Council Presidency, which it will assume in July, and aimed to shed light on the priorities and perspectives that will shape its energy policy agenda during this term.
After Nils Redeker, Acting Co-Director of the JDC, opened the event, Oonagh Buckley, Secretary General of Ireland’s Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment set the scene by placing Europe’s current energy challenges in geopolitical context and outlining the strategic direction ahead. The keynote was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Philipp Jäger, Senior Policy Fellow at the JDC, featuring Dominic Ponattu from the German Federal Chancellery, Kirsten Westphal from the German Association of Energy and Water Industries, and Georg Zachmann from the think tank Bruegel, as well as a Q&A with the audience.
Navigating Crisis and Transformation in EU Energy Policy
In his welcoming remarks, Nils Redeker underscored the urgency of the current moment for EU energy policy. Against the backdrop of ongoing geopolitical tensions, such as the war in Iran, he stressed that the energy crisis requires both immediate responses and a clear medium- to long-term strategy. He highlighted Ireland’s important role in advancing key dossiers at the EU level during the Council presidency, including for instance the electricity grids package and the EU emissions trading system.
Oonagh Buckley then set out Ireland’s perspective on the EU’s energy and stressed the dual responsibility facing policymakers: “Our task is clear: we must respond to immediate pressures on households, businesses, and industry while maintaining a strong focus on the long-term transformation required to deliver a secure, competitive and climate-neutral European energy system.” Buckley then outlined Ireland’s approach ahead of its Council Presidency, structured around four central priorities: delivering an integrated, secure, affordable, and sustainable energy framework; advancing an ambitious climate agenda toward 2050 while ensuring competitiveness; strengthening Europe’s economic resilience and positioning it as the world’s “first true electric continent”; and building a more resource-efficient and environmentally resilient Union.
For Buckley, the path forward is clear: “The strongest response to fossil dependency is reducing fossil dependency”, she argued, pointing to electrificationas a shared European ambition. In this context, she identified the European grids package and energy security package as key priorities for the upcoming presidency, emphasising that the transition to a fully electrified continent will depend on large-scale investment in modern, flexible electricity infrastructure, both onshore and offshore. She also pointed to a broader set of policy areas shaping the agenda, including energy taxation, the EU emissions trading system as a cornerstone of climate policy, diversification of energy supply, and the continued acceleration of the green energy transition.
From Crisis Management to Long-Term Transformation
The panel discussion took stock of both the immediate crisis response and the structural reforms required to strengthen Europe’s energy system. While speakers agreed that Europe is better prepared than in previous crises, they emphasised that markets remain tight and risks persist.
Dominic Ponattu highlighted the continued pressure on global supply, noting that uncertainty around shipping routes and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz would likely sustain elevated prices. He stressed that investments in grids, electrification, and batteries should not only be understood as instruments of climate policy, but as central pillars of energy security.
Georg Zachmann voiced sharp criticism of current policy responses, arguing that Europe is “doing even worse than in the last crisis in terms of crisis reaction”. He pointed in particular to the widespread use of “untargeted” national support measures, which he described as inefficient, as they tend weaken incentives to reduce consumption and discourage investment in long-term alternatives. He also warned against the premature depletion of energy storage, describing it as Europe’s “life insurance” in a context of continued uncertainty.
Kirsten Westphal provided a more cautious assessment, noting that while markets remain tight and price spikes persist, they are less severe than during the 2021–2022 crisis. She emphasised the importance of allowing market mechanisms to function, while also underlining the role of electrification in improving efficiency, strengthening resilience, and advancing the energy transition, while recognising that natural gas will remain necessary during the transition phase.
Drawing on the Irish perspective, Oonagh Buckley highlighted the political and technical constraints policymakers face when designing support measures. She noted that effectively targeting financial support to those most in need remains difficult in practice, often resulting in second-best solutions in the short term, and underlined the importance of developing more structural approaches over time, including through dedicated efforts on energy affordability.
Across the discussion, panelists converged on the need for stronger European coordination – particularly on demand-side measures – as well as more coherent planning and investment at EU level to address structural bottlenecks such as grid expansion. At the same time, the debate illustrated the complexity of balancing short-term crisis responses with long-term transformation, including tensions between national and European approaches, and between market-based mechanisms and more strategic planning.
Audience Q&A: Key Questions on Policy, Technology, and Geopolitics
Participants raised a wide range of questions reflecting key current debates in European energy policy. These included Germany’s position on energy and technological sovereignty, particularly in relation to interconnection and system integration, the implications of the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act and “Buy European” clauses, as well as the role of large-scale energy storage in systems without nuclear power. Further questions addressed the ramp-up of sustainable aviation fuels and the broader geopolitical context, including the EU–US tariff relationship and Europe’s positioning vis-à-vis the United States.
Photo credits: Sanyam Bajaj