{"id":6586,"date":"2026-03-24T17:54:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T12:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/?p=6586"},"modified":"2026-03-24T17:54:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T12:24:46","slug":"ursula-von-der-leyen-warns-europe-energy-crisis-is-critical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/ursula-von-der-leyen-warns-europe-energy-crisis-is-critical\/6586\/","title":{"rendered":"Ursula von der Leyen warns Europe energy crisis is \u201ccritical\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen<\/span><\/span> has warned that the energy crisis triggered by the Iran-related conflict has become \u201ccritical,\u201d as the EU formally calls for the conflict to end and the Strait of Hormuz<\/span><\/span> to be reopened to commercial shipping. In remarks at the European Council<\/span><\/span> and to the European Parliament<\/span><\/span>, von der Leyen stressed that the crisis has already imposed significant costs on European economies through higher fossil fuel imports, with gas and oil prices rising sharply in the early phase of the conflict, though exact figures such as 50 per cent for gas and 27 per cent for oil vary by source and timeframe and should be treated as indicative rather than definitive. Echoing the joint EU message issued by the Brussels summit, she has urged all parties, including the United States and Israel, to cease attacks on energy and water infrastructure and to return to diplomatic channels, arguing that the conflict is a direct threat to Europe\u2019s energy security and macroeconomic stability.<\/p>\n

Legal and economic security framing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

From an EU law and energy security perspective, von der Leyen frames the crisis as a classic \u201cexternal shock\u201d that exposes the remaining vulnerability of Europe\u2019s fossil fuel import dependence, which remains significant despite reductions following the Russia-Ukraine war<\/span><\/span>. The European Commission has warned that disruption or closure of the Strait of Hormuz and strikes on Gulf energy sites could threaten global energy flows and raise concerns related to the principle of freedom of navigation under the United Nations<\/span><\/span> Convention on the Law of the Sea, although whether specific actions constitute legal violations depends on the circumstances. Continued disruption to oil and gas flows could trigger another round of costly interventions, including price control measures, strategic reserve use, and state aid measures under the EU\u2019s emergency energy framework. The EU\u2019s demand for an end to the conflict and the reopening of the Strait is therefore framed in both legal and economic terms: a call for compliance with international shipping law and a plea to protect European households and industries from inflation and growth pressures following the previous Russia-linked energy crisis.<\/p>\n

Policy measures and the shift toward self-reliance<\/h3>\n

In parallel, the Commission is pushing member states to accelerate gas storage compliance for the coming winter and consider flexibility in filling targets if needed, while relying more heavily on renewables and nuclear power, whose prices have remained relatively stable compared to fossil fuels. Von der Leyen has repeatedly warned that a return to Russian gas dependence would be a \u201cstrategic blunder\u201d and has instead advocated for a reinforced \u201cOne Europe, One Market\u201d style roadmap that combines long-term energy independence, green transition incentives, and targeted financial support for vulnerable consumers. The \u201ccritical\u201d crisis label is therefore not only a rhetorical warning; it is a political and legal signal that the EU intends to treat the Iran-related shock as a structural energy security emergency, justifying rapid decision-making at the European Council and enhanced coordination across the 27-member bloc, while avoiding direct military engagement in the conflict itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has warned that the energy crisis triggered by the Iran-related conflict has become\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":446,"featured_media":6587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[790,852,642],"class_list":["post-6586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-eu","tag-united-nations-convention-on-the-law-of-the-sea","tag-ursula-von-der-leyen"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/446"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6586"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6588,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6586\/revisions\/6588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}