On 22 April 2026, the European Commission presented the AccelerateEU initiative, which responds to the energy and price crisis triggered by the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz (“Package“). The Package aims to bring immediate relief to households and businesses while accelerating the transition to EU energy independence. The Commission frames AccelerateEU as a combination of short-term stabilisation interventions and long-term structural measures to reduce the EU’s exposure to volatile fossil markets and strengthen the resilience of the economy. Commission’s Communication on the Package is available at this link.

The Commission underlines that the EU is still heavily dependent on fossil fuel imports (described as a structural vulnerability) and that the current situation means additional energy import costs without increasing physical supplies. The pressure is particularly felt on the budgets of vulnerable households, small and medium sized enterprises and energy-intensive industries.

At the heart of the Package is the emphasis on coordination at EU level. The Commission wants to align Member States’ actions on stockpile management, crisis measures and access to fuels so as to avoid uncoordinated interventions that disrupt the single market. In this regard, the Commission proposed the following 6 specific actions:

1. Strengthening coordination between Member States on measures such as filling gas storage tanks, using flexibilities in the rules and possible exceptional release of strategic oil stocks; intensive work of the gas and oil coordination groups.
2. Establishment of a Fuel Observatory to continuously monitor production, imports, exports and stocks of transport fuels in the EU and to identify the risk of shortages in advance.
3. Coordination of the availability of aviation fuel and diesel and related capacities (including refinery production) to prevent local outages and imbalances in distribution.
4. Clarification of flexibilities for aviation within the existing European framework so that the sector can better respond to price shocks and possible supply tensions.
5. Targeted, temporary and rapid protection of consumers and businesses from price peaks – e.g. targeted income support, energy vouchers, social schemes and reductions in electricity excise duties for vulnerable households.
6. Accelerating structural steps for energy independence: emphasis on electrification, development of domestic clean sources, strengthening of networks and investments (including the upcoming plans and investment initiatives mentioned in the Communication).

The Commission underlines that the success of the measures depends on a swift implementation in 2026 and close coordination between Member States in order to stabilise the market while accelerating the energy transition.