Germany's vice chancellor warns EU against overreliance on US energy resources

Germany's Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Robert Habeck, has urged Europe to avoid becoming overly dependent on US energy supplies as the region braces for challenges under the new Donald Trump administration. 

Addressing the Handelsblatt Energy Summit on January 21, Habeck called for European unity in defining its interests and responding to Trump's climate and energy policies, Caliber.Az reports referencing Western media giants.

Europe should approach the Trump administration "with an outstretched hand, but not have our hand cut off," Habeck remarked, emphasizing the importance of strategic independence. The Green Party leader, who is also campaigning for Germany's February 23 elections, criticized Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement as “the beginning of historic failure.” The agreement seeks to limit global warming to below 2°C by mid-century.

Habeck warned that Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on other nations could spark inflation in both the US and Europe, undermining economic stability.

“We shouldn’t believe that what is happening there can be a model for us,” he said, cautioning that such policies could erode the foundations of Europe’s economic achievements.

In light of Europe's shift to US liquefied natural gas (LNG) following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Habeck highlighted the risks of energy dependency.

“A stronger reliance on the US could mean a form of blackmail that we had in Russia is being repeated,” he noted.

The fallout from Moscow’s attack on Ukraine left Europe scrambling to replace Russian pipeline gas with costlier LNG imports, primarily from the US. Germany, in particular, has struggled to recover from the economic shock.

“In a world where energy supply chains can be exploited for power politics, energy dependency is always a problem,” Habeck concluded, underscoring the need for Europe to diversify its energy sources and strengthen regional solidarity.

The Handelsblatt Energy Summit 2025, held from January 21 to 23 at the Berlin Congress Center, convened key figures from politics, the energy sector, and startups to discuss strategies for a successful energy transition under the theme "Raus aus dem Krisenmodus: wie die Energiewende zum Erfolg wird" ("Out of Crisis Mode: How the Energy Transition Becomes a Success"). 

By Khagan Isayev