European Commission proposes joint energy buying and new trade tools

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed several strategic initiatives to strengthen the European Union's economic autonomy and resilience against market volatility and external pressure.

To combat rising energy costs, von der Leyen suggested a centralized model for joint energy procurement. This plan aims to aggregate the demand of all EU member states to negotiate as a single bloc for gas, oil, green hydrogen, and critical minerals for batteries. This approach seeks to prevent individual nations from facing high costs and to provide greater leverage in international negotiations.

Additionally, the Commission will present the ‘Diversify EU’ plan in December. This instrument is designed to reduce structural dependencies on single suppliers, particularly China, and to address economic imbalances. The plan includes a ‘solidarity mechanism’ to support member states facing coercion or reprisals from third countries, and a tool to limit access to the single market when necessary to protect Union interests.