Speech by President von der Leyen at the European Parliament plenary debate in preparation of the European Council meeting of 15-16 October 2026

“Check against delivery”

Madam President, dear Roberta,

Minister Byrne,

Honourable Members,

Let me start directly with a topic affecting us all – the high energy costs. Families and industries are paying the cost of a crisis far beyond our borders. Since the end of February, gas prices have risen by 140%. Diesel prices have doubled. Altogether, imported fossil fuel have cost Europe €100 billion extra since the start of the Iran war. Without a single molecule of additional energy. We are all feeling these higher costs. Businesses are under high pressure. People struggle to pay their bills. And this could intensify as we head into winter. So, we need to act now. To protect those most in need. And to make sure we come out of this crisis stronger than we entered it. That we address the structural problems.

Honourable Members,

We have prevailed before. Four years ago, Russia tried to blackmail us. At that time, 45% of our gas imports came from Russia. Almost overnight, almost all of it was cut off. But Europe stood together and we came out stronger. We diversified our supplies. And we massively accelerated investments in homegrown clean energy. Today, our import of Russian gas has fallen from 45% to 12%. And we will reduce that to zero by the end of next year. In addition, more than 70% of our electricity today comes from homegrown and clean sources – renewables and nuclear. Because of these decisions we took in the crisis of 2022 today we are less vulnerable and in a better position. Therefore, the decisions we take today must follow the same logic. In the short term we need to support Member States to respond to the immediate pressure. But for the mid- and long-term, we need to continue to address the structural issues that leave us exposed to volatile foreign fossil fuel markets. We need to invest in our resilience.

Let me start with the short-term response. We know that energy challenges are not the same across Europe. Every Member State has its own energy mix. Let me give you some figures: In one Member State, the megawatt-hour of electricity costs around €145. Here, the price is set mostly by gas. In another Member State, the megawatt-hour of electricity costs only €70.
Here, nuclear and renewables are setting the price. So, there is no silver bullet for the whole of the European Union. Different Member States have different energy mixes. And they face different pressures. Our role is to give Member States the tools and flexibility to respond. This is why in April, right at the beginning of the closure of Hormuz, we presented AccelerateEU. We introduced a temporary state aid framework for the industrial sectors most exposed. And we set out options to help the households most in need. The support has to be targeted: No blanket handouts, because that would increase demand, favour higher incomes, and entail enormous costs. But tailor-made support. We see good examples of this. In France and Romania, energy voucher schemes provide support to low-income families. This is the right approach. Targeted, effective support for those who truly need it.

At the same time, we are working with our partners on the supply side. Last week, G7 members agreed to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil. This will help stabilise global energy prices. We will give flexibility to exporters for one more year on methane. This saves additional costs at a moment of crisis. We will launch a strategic dialogue on European refineries. The aim is to bring down costs and to ensure we have the supplies needed also for defence. This strategic dialogue will be chaired by Commissioners Jørgensen and Kubilius. And we will launch a new taskforce to bundle energy demand. We have done this before. When Russia tried to blackmail us, we brought European buyers together. We pooled demand. We helped secure the supplies Europe needed. It is a model that works. But we have to bring it to the next level. We want to move from simple matchmaking to aggregating demand and task a market operator to do the joint procurement.

Honourable Members,

It is one thing to respond to the immediate threat. But as long as Europe depends on oil and gas, our prosperity remains exposed to events beyond our control. When we import fossil fuels, we import the shocks and crisis that come with them. So, we must transform the way we consume energy. We need to make strategic choices today to secure our energy independence tomorrow. That means replacing fossil fuels with clean electricity made in Europe.

On production, we have already made real progress. Last year, for the first time, wind and solar produced more electricity than all fossil fuels combined. But we need the infrastructure to get it to where it is needed. Let me give you one figure – last year, we installed more than 80 gigawatts of renewable capacity. But six times more is still waiting to be connected. That is why we need our grids package so urgently. It is in your hands now to have it agreed until the end of the year and I know, Europe can count on you.

Honourable Members,

Producing clean electricity and getting it where it is needed is only half the job. We also need to use more of it. Today, electricity accounts for less than a quarter of our final energy consumption. Our Electrification Action Plan sets a clear target to double that by 2040. Just imagine – that could help cut our fossil fuel imports by €260 billion every year. In the coming months, we will come forward with the measures to deliver this. Because every electron of clean energy we produce and use here in Europe is energy we do not need to import from volatile global markets.

Honourable members,

The energy challenge we are facing is another reminder that our next long-term budget needs to rise to the many challenges Europe is facing. We need to step up our investments in defence and security, in competitiveness, in AI, in energy infrastructures, in raw materials, in research and innovation, in skills, in enlargement, in international partnerships – I could go on. The priorities for the next MFF, including the need to safeguard food security and cohesion across regions and Member States are not challenged. We have all agreed on them. The question is one of ambition. We have proposed an MFF that preserves the current level of funding for financial support to agriculture and cohesion. At the same time, our proposal significantly boosts the financing for priorities that are currently underfunded in our budget. Some of these areas will be covered by the future competitiveness fund. But also beyond, for example, for energy infrastructure and military mobility. Our proposal also addresses the new reality we live in and increases the funding for crises. This is the case: for the agricultural reserve, for natural disasters, for additional funding to tackle illegal migration. This summer reminded us how critical such instruments and funding are.

Finally, we have proposed to boost financing in areas where spending at the EU level is delivering more and better results than spending nationally. Think large-scale projects such as space. And it is also needed for projects that simply would not be possible without European funding: for example, energy interconnection or other cross-border projects.

Honourable Members,

We sometimes hear that this is not possible. Allow me to recall that we are talking about a budget of 1.26% of the European Union's GNI. I am aware that balancing all the constraints is not easy. I am also aware of the difficult budgetary situation in Member States. But I would like to caution against large cuts. It would risk cutting deep into critical priorities that we all together have agreed on. This is why we have proposed a significant package of new own resources. And I know that this house will support me in this. I believe that the priorities we proposed in the MFF are the right ones. If we want to preserve our priorities and the level of ambition we have for Europe, we have to do the hard work on the revenue side.

Thank you.

Long live Europe.