As the European Commission hails its new EU–US trade deal as a win for transatlantic ties and economic stability, green groups are sounding the alarm.

The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Europe’s largest network of environmental NGOs, warns that the centrepiece of the deal, a €700 billion pledge to buy U.S. fossil fuels and nuclear energy over the next three years, is fundamentally incompatible with the EU’s 2030 climate targets.

Luke Haywood, Head of Climate and Energy at EEB, says:

“This deal flies in the face of the EU’s climate commitments. Tripling U.S. energy imports in just three years isn’t only physically implausible, it would derail the EU’s mid-term decarbonisation targets. Credible pathways to the EU’s 2030 climate targets are incompatible with more imported oil and gas, slow-to-build nuclear reactors and unproven small modular reactors. We should be doubling down on renewables, energy efficiency and electrification. This deal sends a dangerous and dissonant signal to the world.”

The EEB highlights the following concerns:

• The claim that these volumes of US energy imports will substitute for Russian imports is not credible. According to Eurostat, the US already holds a 50% share of the EU’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) market. Even fully replacing the remaining 17% supplied by Russia would add only around €9 billion annually – just 2.5% of total EU energy imports.

• In 2024, total EU energy imports were valued at around €370 billion. Even under the most radical scenarios, shifting oil and gas imports to the U.S. would deliver less than €100 billion extra per year – far short of the $250 billion/year target touted in the deal.

The EEB is calling on the European Parliament and Member States to scrutinise and reject any elements of the agreement that undermine Europe’s climate goals, energy sovereignty, or international credibility.

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