Europe’s deepening dependency on foreign oil

The report finds that crude oil imports in 2018 were 8% higher than in 2014. In fact, the EU-27 imported 96% of its crude oil in 2018, with a majority (31%) coming from Russia.

Besides the dramatic impact on climate change, these imports had a significant cost for the EU economy: that same year, the EU spent €211 billion on crude oil imports, equivalent to €473 per EU citizen.

The report also finds that imports of liquid biofuels increased 43-fold between 2000 and 2018, while imports of the plant-based raw materials used to produce them also increased.