The European Union’s energy commissioner, Dan Jorgensen, said on January 28 that U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to take over Greenland has been a “wake-up call” to European governments to increase their energy security, Reuters reported.
Dan Jorgensen expressed a growing concern shared by decision-makers in the alliance regarding Europe’s shifting dependencies. The EU successfully pivoted away from Russian gas following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but now finds itself heavily reliant on American liquefied natural gas (LNG).
“I definitely hear this when speaking to energy ministers and heads of state all over Europe, that there is a growing concern, which I share, that we risk replacing one dependency with another,” said the head of EU’s energy policy to journalists in Brussels. “And for the part of that that is not homegrown renewable, we need to diversify it as much as possible.”
Last year, the EU committed to an energy trade deal with the Trump administration and pledged to buy 750 billion dollars (627 billion euros) worth of U.S. oil, gas, and nuclear technologies through 2028.
The United States supplied approximately 57 per cent of the EU’s LNG last year, according to Reuters the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis’ data. When considering the combination of both LNG and pipeline supplies, American sources accounted for 27 per cent of the total gas volume. By comparison, the European Union sourced roughly 40 per cent of its gas from Russia prior to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This level saw a significant decline, falling to around 13 per cent last year.
To mitigate these energy security risks, Jorgensen announced plans to travel to Canada, Qatar, and North Africa in the coming months. The mission aims to secure more diverse supply chains and reduce the influence of any single provider. Jorgensen emphasised that until the EU achieves these long-term goals, diversification remains the only viable path to ensure the bloc is not vulnerable to the shifting political tides of its partners.