UK-EU energy cooperation for a clean, secure future

The new Government has made clear its desire to reset the United Kingdom’s (UK’s) relationship with the European Union (EU). Despite years of acrimony, the UK and the EU remain deeply interconnected. Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to energy and climate change; from the pipes and wires that run under the North Sea, to shared values about the importance of tackling climate change both at home and internationally.

The promise of greater cooperation has remained largely unfulfilled over recent years, but the shifting political landscape presents new opportunities for the UK-EU relationship.

This report sets out the benefits of greater cooperation between the UK and the EU which include:

• greater UK-EU cooperation could reduce the cost of meeting the 300GW offshore wind target in the Ostend Declaration by €13bn.
• market linkage could also avoid the need for the EU to import an additional €2bn of gas per year; the result of increased fossil fuel generation offsetting decreased renewables imports from the UK.
• in 2022, more than a quarter of Europe’s lost Russian energy was replaced by exports from the UK.

The report contains a number of recommendations, including finalising electricity trading arrangements, linking the EU and UK ETS and tackling carbon leakage through Carbon Border Adjustments.