Briefing - EU and Ukraine: Potential for stronger energy cooperation on the path to integration - 24-03-2025
Ukraine is the second largest country on the European continent after Russia. Its oil, coal and gas reserves, as well as its geostrategic position, ensured its important role in energy trade, both during the Soviet Union and after its collapse. However, Russia's initial invasion of Ukraine (since 2014), followed by a full-scale war of aggression against the country, have had severe human and economic impacts. In the energy area, for example, Russia's strategy has been to weaponise (e.g. the occupation of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station) or destroy (hydro and coal-fired power plants, as well as electricity grid substations) energy infrastructure. As a result, Ukraine's electricity generation capacity has been severely limited. Moreover, its choice to be less dependent on Russian energy, and to apply for EU membership, means that, within a short time frame, it must rebuild its energy grid and orient it towards a future with less fossil fuels; all this while being in a war. Energy relations between the EU and Ukraine are multifaceted (e.g. the Energy Community; the memorandum of understanding on energy in 2005, updated in 2016; the association agreement signed in 2014). In future, they are due to be reframed under the institutional arrangements for the enlargement talks (after Ukraine was granted EU candidate status in 2022). Since the Russian invasion in 2022, to help Ukraine cope with the multiple challenges its energy grid has been facing, the EU has used several mechanisms and initiatives, such as successfully synchronising the Ukrainian grid with the Continental European Synchronous Area; the EU civil protection mechanism; the Ukraine Facility; the Ukraine Energy Support Fund; and the European Investment Bank. The outcome of the war is uncertain, and some see recent statements by the new United States administration as a significant setback for Ukraine. Others focus instead on the possibilities for further collaboration between Ukraine and the EU. They bring as examples the country's vast gas reserves and infrastructure both to transport and to store natural gas, nuclear power or green hydrogen, provided that the country engages in the development of relevant infrastructure.
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP