The European Union can't fully trust US President Donald Trump to keep Europe out of the cold next Winter. We are risking our democracy, our prosperity and our security if we do not take action. That's why liberals and democrats call for an energy-independent Europe, with a more integrated energy market. In a freshly adopted paper, Renew Europe argues there are two reasons to become energy independent from the US, after having successfully freeing itself from Russian gas. First, geopolitical instability puts European citizens at risk of soaring prices or unavailable energy. And second, the energy coming from the United States is non-renewable and unsustainable. In the paper, Renew Europe sets out its priorities for how an integrated, truly European energy sector can make clean, affordable and independent energy accessible for everyone. To achieve this, the European Union and the Member States need to move beyond taboos and national interests, and towards integration. Brigitte van den Berg (D66/Netherlands) and Emma Wiesner (Centerpartiet/Sweden) are Renew Europe’s lead member on energy and co-author of the paper. Brigitte van den Berg (D66/Netherlands), says: “Everybody can see how high energy prices are hitting households and are making all kinds of products more expensive. That drives people towards easy solutions, like “clean coal” or giving Putin what he wants in return for cheap gas. On top of that our energy intensive industries are closing down, and Trump has his hand on our gas valve. Yet there seems to be no sense of urgency in Brussels. That needs to change.” Emma Wiesner (Centerpartiet/Sweden), says: ”This is Renew Europe's roadmap to an energy-independent Europe. In increasingly uncertain times we have to be more self-sufficient. We need to accelerate the phase-out of fossil energy and scale up investments in our own domestic energy production. Switching our import dependence of fossil energy from one country to another is not sustainable. Exchanging one addiction for another is never the solution. This is our plan and commitment to creating simpler, cheaper, and safer conditions for producing, using, and transferring energy in Europe” Christophe Grudler, (Mouvement Democrate/France) Renew Europe’s coordinator in the committee of industry, research and energy, says: “High energy prices are undermining both Europeans’ purchasing power and the competitiveness of our economy. For Renew Europe, this is not only a cost-of-living issue, but also a question of strategic autonomy. Europe still spends over €350 billion euros every year importing fossil fuels, money that flows out of our economy instead of being invested in our renewables, our grids and our clean technologies. If we are serious about phasing out fossil fuels, we must pursue a coherent energy policy: making clean energy cheaper, more attractive, and widely available through electrification, smarter taxation and strong financial incentives for the consumers. This is how we lower bills, strengthen our industry and regain control over our energy future.” Among Renew Europe’s priorities towards an energy independs are: Fossil fuel is not the future: It is time to put a definite end to the era of buying fossil fuels from abroad to fuel our economy. The political will must increase dramatically, not least at Member States level, to urgently invest in clean energy production. Connect the grids: By building one interconnected European grid, Europeans can benefit from lower, more stable energy prices. Key interconnectors should be pushed through at a European level if Member States are dragging their feet. The EU should take a more active role in boosting grid expansion and modernization, as well as the roll-out of smart grids and storage technologies. Smart tax systems: We must address that European companies often struggle with 27 different national frameworks. When it comes to energy tax policies and levies across Europe, we call for them to be streamlined within the EU, and to be kept as low as possible. Member states should adopt smart tax systems that reward households, businesses and industries that use environmentally friendly energy sources. The simple market: We must ensure that our single market is a simple market. Therefore, Renew Europe will be staunch supporters of simplifying existing rules, while also looking again at which rules need to be harmonized for a stronger single market, such as the calculation of grid tariffs. | 
