To address rising energy costs and further reduce dependency on volatile fossil fuel markets, due to the escalating Middle East conflict, the Commission presented a comprehensive plan of actions and measures on 22 April 2026. The objective is an energy union that delivers energy security, clean abundant and homegrown energy, which is affordable to EU consumers and businesses. We will step up our energy system, invest further in clean energy and push fossil fuels out of our electricity production.
5 pillars of AccelerateEU. The plan will provide immediate relief to consumers facing energy price spikes and accelerate the transition to clean, secure and affordable clean energy. It sets out 5 key areas of action
Closer EU coordination
Increased coordination between EU countries, both within the single market and with fossil fuel providers, such as filling gas storage facilities, exceptional releases of oil stocks, or adopting national measures. The strong commitment and intensified coordination needed will be supported by the Energy Union Task Force, launched in 2025.
Protecting consumers and businesses
Measures suggested to support EU countries in protecting consumers, as well as industry, from price peaks includes timely and temporary measures, such as targeted income support schemes, energy vouchers and lowering excise duties on electricity for vulnerable households.
More homegrown clean energy
Accelerating the shift to homegrown clean energy will reduce our imports of oil and gas. To encourage manufacturers to increase capacity and invest in more renewables and skills, measures include an electrification target, as well as removing barriers to the electrification of the industrial, transport and building sectors.
Stepping up our energy system
An upgrade and transformation of our energy system will ensure that current rules are fully implemented and speeding up negotiations on the EU Grids Package and implement the ‘Energy Highways’ projects.
Boosting investments
To scale up private capital input for the clean energy transition, public funding needs to be mobilised on both EU and national level. The Commission will also encourage further investments through high-level events, like the Clean Energy Transition Investment Forum in May 2026 and a Clean Energy Investment Summit later in 2026.
EU’s clean energy transition. The clean energy transition is an economic, competitiveness and security imperative that will require strong commitment from all parties involved, tight coordination and increased investments. The need for transition is not new, but needs to speed up significantly, considering the geopolitical realities of the conflict in the Middle East.
- the REPowerEU plan and roadmap aim to phase out all russian energy imports and assure EU’s energy independence from russia, is progressing since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It focuses on promoting energy conservation, encourage clean energy production and diversify our energy supplies
- high energy prices hit the most vulnerable the hardest. The Citizens’ Energy Package, presented in March 2026, prioritises energy costs and consumers’ access to energy, placing a strong focus on protecting vulnerable and energy-poor households
- the Commission is also working in and with specific sectors to help speeding up the clean energy transition through local initiatives helping for example EU coal regions or islands, enhancing energy efficiency financing or combatting energy poverty