The EU ranks as the world's largest energy importer and has had an annual energy import bill averaging €300 billion since 2014.
The euro is a stable, reliable and globally recognised currency that is widely accepted for international payments, yet approximately 85% of the EU’s energy imports are paid in US dollars.
Energy is a key strategic sector in the EU economy and therefore has a critical role to play in reinforcing the global position of the euro. In addition, strengthening the euro in energy trade and investments helps realise key objectives of the energy union, particularly delivering safe, viable and accessible energy supply to all Europeans.
The European Commission has taken several steps to give the necessary impulse to energy market participants to use the euro more in their transactions, including issuing a Recommendation (C(2018) 811) in December 2018.
As a follow-up, the Commission hosted an event to consult stakeholders’ views on the mechanisms and practicalities of implementing the recommendation and launched, at the same time, a public consultation than ran from 14 February to 7 April 2019. The results of the consultation were presented in a Staff Working Document in June 2019.
Documents
- Recommendation on international role of the euro in the field of energy C(2018) 811 final – December 2018 and the accompanying Staff Working Document ‘Promoting the international role of the euro in the field of energy’ ( (2018) 483 final)
Related links
- Consultation on the role of the euro in the field of energy (February - April 2019)
- Event: The international role of the euro in the field of energy (February 2019)
- The international role of the euro