The Polish PM was joined by three other European leaders in warning that Brussels\u2019 policies are squeezing industry amid its Russian energy divorce and military buildup<\/p>\n
The EU can forget about competitiveness while energy prices remain prohibitively high, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned, urging Brussels to avoid policies that push costs higher.
\nTusk spoke on Thursday at a press conference of the Visegrad Four\u00a0(V4) \u2013 Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic \u2013 a Central European grouping that coordinates regional interests within the EU.
\n\u201cWe can put aside the dream of competing with China or the US as long as energy prices here remain at their current levels,\u201d Tusk said. \u201cThe EU cannot afford to remain naive for even one more day when it comes to various ambitious policies. We must protect our industry.\u201d
\nTusk mentioned EU energy and climate measures such as carbon-pricing schemes, noting the region pays some of the world\u2019s highest electricity prices despite Brussels making competitiveness a stated priority. \u201cEnergy prices in this region\u2026 must come down,\u201d he insisted. \u201cAnything that creates a risk of higher energy prices for us should be blocked.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Where things stand now
\nWith benchmark TTF gas back near \u20ac80 per MWh \u2013 roughly four times its pre-2022 level \u2013 EU industrial electricity prices are still two to three times higher than in the US and nearly 50% above China\u2019s, while gas in Europe can cost up to five times more than across the Atlantic.
\nAlthough today\u2019s energy prices are significantly below 2022 peaks, the crisis has shaved off 15-20% from gas demand, which remains depressed, reflecting not only conservation but a contraction of the industrial base. Many energy-intensive operations were rendered unprofitable. Numerous factories curbed production or shut altogether.
\nPermanent chemical-plant closures alone have surged sixfold from pre-2022 levels, according to Cefic, while auto-making giants such as Volkswagen, Stellantis, and Renault, as well as multiple other manufacturers, have scaled back or closed European operations amid competition from the US and Asia, and corporate insolvencies have risen.<\/p>\n
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A major contributor to the EU\u2019s gas woes is the abandonment of cheap Russian energy in light of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Russia previously supplied around 45% of EU gas imports and 27% of its crude oil, but by 2025, Russia\u2019s share of EU gas imports had fallen to 12% and crude imports to around 2%.
\nSeveral EU leaders, notably German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, have acknowledged that the loss of Russian supplies has played a role in the energy crisis.
\nWhile Tusk, a strong Ukraine supporter, did not explicitly link high energy prices to EU sanctions on Russia and the cutting off of Russian supplies, he cited the Ukraine conflict and \u201cconstant pressure from Russia\u201d among the broader challenges facing the region, saying \u201cthe war is a real problem.\u201d
\nTusk\u2019s Visegrad peers also warned that Brussels\u2019 policies are squeezing industry amid the decoupling from Russian energy divorce and ongoing defense buildup.<\/p>\n
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What other leaders had to say
\nHungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar warned that \u201cdozens of Central European companies are going bankrupt because they cannot afford the price of electricity\u201d and \u201ccan no longer afford the price of gas.\u201d Magyar challenged Brussels to fund the energy transition it demands.
\n\u201cIf we need to transition away from Russian gas and oil, if we need to completely phase out fossil fuels, the EU should\u00a0specify in its next seven-year budget how much assistance affected businesses will receive in turn,\u201d he argued.
\nSlovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis similarly rejected leaving individual governments to deal with soaring fuel costs and criticized EU policies they said were hurting industry. Fico called for energy-market reforms, while Babis blamed the Green Deal for high costs, refinery closures and declining competitiveness.
\nEU energy bind deepens
\nThe warnings come as the EU prioritizes two costly undertakings: completing its break with Russian energy, while financing a massive military buildup that envisages mobilizing up to \u20ac800 billion in additional defense spending. Russian LNG is due to disappear from the EU market by the end of 2026 and pipeline gas by autumn 2027.<\/p>\n
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Loss of cheap energy harmed EU economy \u2013 von der Leyen<\/p>\n
Critics have warned that these two initiatives will be hard to reconcile and that the rejection of Russian energy will further undermine already flagging industrial competitiveness, and leave some member states scrambling for alternative supplies.
\nMeanwhile, the US war on Iran and disruption of the Strait of Hormuz are exacerbating\u00a0the crisis. This, combined with Houthi attacks\u00a0on Red Sea shipping and Saudi energy infrastructure, has pushed Brent crude above $106 a barrel this week.
\nEuropean households have taken a hit as well. An Ipsos-Secours survey of 10,000 people across ten European countries, released earlier this month, found that 29% were living in precarious circumstances and 73% feared being unable to afford fuel costs. More than a third said they had sacrificed essentials such as food or healthcare to pay energy bills over the past year, while 23% had skipped medical appointments, suggesting energy insecurity is becoming a permanent feature of the cost-of-living crisis.
\nMoscow has long denounced Western energy sanctions as illegal and self-defeating, arguing they merely redirect Russian exports elsewhere while forcing Europeans toward more expensive and harder-to-obtain supplies. Russia has offered to help fill oil shortages caused by the Middle East conflict and resume supplies to Europe, but says it has received no response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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