Europe has called for more home-grown wind power to boost energy security and reduce electricity bills.
In her 2025 State of the Union address, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed the need for Europe to take control of the energies and technologies that fuel its economy.
She termed it “Europe’s independence moment” – and doubled down on the need to implement Europe’s Clean Industrial Deal and “get rid of dirty Russian fossil fuels completely”.
“This transformation is central to our push for independence,” von der Leyen said.
She repeated her determination to ramp up clean tech manufacturing in Europe and stressed that urgent action was needed to maintain Europe’s global clean tech leadership.
WindEurope chief executive Giles Dickson welcomed the comments from von der Leyen.
He said: “The EU Commission is clear: we need more home-grown wind energy. It boosts energy security. It means lower energy bills for consumers. It strengthens our industrial competitiveness. Europe’s wind industry and its 400,000 workers are ready to step up to the task.”
The EU Commission President also announced a new European Energy Highways initiative which will identify eight critical cross-border grid bottlenecks and bring together politicians and industry to resolve them.
“We know what brings electricity prices down – domestically produced clean tech,” von der Leyen said. She also stressed the critical role an accelerated deployment of renewables plays for Europe’s wider economic competitiveness.
To create more demand for domestically produced clean tech, von der Leyen announced the introduction of a new “made in Europe” criterion in public procurement procedures as well as an Industrial Accelerator Act for key clean technologies.
WindEurope is now urging governments in Europe to speed up permitting processes by implementing the Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII); optimising and expanding the grid and interconnections; removing barriers to direct electrification; and de-risking wind energy auctions with a stable pipeline of two-sided Contracts for Difference auctions.
Dickson said: “It’s time to seriously ramp up wind energy in the EU – we only built 5GW in the first half of this year. Governments have got to pull their finger out – apply the EU permitting rules, build out the grids more quickly, push electrification. And make sure there’s a business case for clean energy.”
The State of the Union address is the Commission President’s annual speech to the European Parliament, in which key priorities are laid out for the coming year.