Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, warned that Europe is lagging behind in the energy sector compared to China and the United States.

According to Birol, this delay is due to “two huge strategic mistakes”: excessive reliance on Russian gas before the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis; Whereas Russian gas used to constitute more than 40% of Europe’s energy supplies, but Europe has succeeded in significantly reducing this dependence. The percentage decreased to only 15% in 2023.

The second reason is to move away from nuclear energy. Whereas, unlike other countries, such as France, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, other European countries, such as Germany, Austria, and Luxembourg, oppose the use of nuclear energy.

Its opponents argue that its projects are expensive and plagued by delays, and that the money allocated to it could be better directed toward renewable energy sources.

The European industrial sector, especially heavy industry, suffers from great difficulties due to high energy costs. Electricity prices in the European Union are two to three times higher than in the United States, partly due to the complexities of energy regulations.

Although the European Union in 2019 set one of the world's most ambitious climate targets – committing to cut emissions by 55% below 1990 levels by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 – achieving these targets may be difficult without relying on a combination of Energy sources, including nuclear energy and renewable energy.