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Hooked on gas

The energy consumption of the 27 EU member states rose by 9.7 percent between 1995 and 2005. In addition to oil, gas is one of the EU's most important energy sources - gas imports increased by six percent annually in the same period. How dependent is Europe on gas from non-EU countries?

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How did the EU's dependency on gas imports develop between 1995 and 2005?

EU member states import approximately half of the energy they require. The EU is particularly dependent on oil – it imports 82 percent of the oil it requires – and gas, of which it imports 58 percent of its total requirements. According to Eurostat this trend will continue over the next decades.

In the year 2005 the energy dependency rate of the 27 member states for natural gas was 57.7 percent. This means that 57.7 percent of the gas required by all EU member states, made up of the total consumption of the member states plus the gas they set aside for reserves had to be imported. Thus, the EU's gas dependency rose by 14.1 percent between 1995 and 2005. While gas production in the 27 EU member states remained at the same level as in 1995 their gas consumption went up by a third, which led to a further increase in gas imports and consequently in gas dependency.

The three main importers of gas – Germany, Italy and France – increased their gas imports by 53 percent compared to 1995. The Netherlands and Denmark are the only EU countries that export gas. The majority of EU countries are over 80 percent dependent on gas imports.

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