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Assessing EU's direct and indirect energy dependencies

STOA workshop

Youg girl raising her arms in a gesture of strenght

The workshop showcased new analytical work by The Shift Project, a European think tank dedicated to supporting the transition away from fossil fuels. Drawing on detailed trade and energy data, their team has developed a modelling tool that traces the "grey" energy embedded in goods and services consumed in Europe - going beyond conventional statistics to capture both direct and indirect energy dependencies across global value chains.

This approach introduces two complementary indicators: energy exposure, which measures all the energy worldwide that keeps a country's economy running (including energy used to produce its exports), and energy footprint, which captures the total energy required to sustain residents' lifestyles, including embodied energy in imports. Applied to France and other European economies, the model reveals previously invisible fossil‑fuel dependencies, intra‑EU interconnections and critical supply‑chain nodes, offering policymakers a powerful basis for stress‑testing industrial strategies, security‑of‑supply frameworks and decarbonisation pathways.

Watch the event

Video recording

Expert interview

Assessing EU’s direct and indirect energy dependencies

Programme

15:00 - 15:10 Opening Remarks

  • Thomas PELLERIN‑CARLIN, MEP and STOA Panel member

15:10 - 15:30 The Shift Project - Embodied Energy Model

  • Théo WITTERSHEIM - The Shift Project

15:30 - 16:30 Panel discussion on EU's direct and indirect energy dependencies

  • Alexandre AFFRE, BusinessEurope
  • Anne‑Maud ORLINSKI, European Commission, Cabinet of Commissioner Dan Jørgensen
  • Ugne KELIAUSKAITE, Bruegel
  • Théo WITTERSHEIM - The Shift Project

16:30 - 16:50 Q&A session

16:50 - 17:00 Closing remarks

  • Thomas PELLERIN‑CARLIN, MEP and STOA Panel member


The event was held in English only, without interpretation. The recording is available below.