The 2024 report on energy subsidies in the EU, published on Tuesday 28 January by the European Commission, reveals that subsidies for imported fossil energy “continue to put a heavy burden on European economies and distort incentives for energy use”, often in environmentally harmful ways.
In 2023, these subsidies were still high (€111 billion) compared to 2021 (€60 billion), but below the €136 billion reached in 2022 at the height of the energy crisis.
In comparison, subsidies for renewable energies fell in 2021 (€83 billion) for the first time since 2025 and continued to fall, to €68 billion in 2022 and €61 billion in 2023, mainly because of an increase in wholesale electricity market prices, which reduced the amounts of subsidy paid out under dynamic support instruments “as renewables became more competitive”.
Support for energy efficiency measures, meanwhile, has increased in recent years, with €23 billion in 2021, €34 billion in 2022 and €44 billion in 2023.
It should be noted that the vast majority of energy subsidies in 2023 (€213 billion) were still intended to support energy consumption, particularly by households and industry.
The study also targets the total amount of so-called “environmentally harmful” energy subsidies in the EU, which is estimated at €136 billion in 2023, or 38% of total energy subsidies. Fossil fuels account for 68% of these harmful subsidies (€93 billion).
According to the study, “phasing out these subsidies would free up important public resources, which could be used to strengthen Europe’s energy security, reduce government deficits and increase the pace of the clean energy transition”.
However, it points out that, according to the national phase-out plans, only 43%, or €48 billion, of fossil fuel subsidies are scheduled to end before 2025, and 9% scheduled to end between 2026 and 2030. For the remaining 48%, no deadline was given or the deadline was set after the year 2030.
To see the study: https://aeur.eu/f/f9v (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)