European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas, in a video message to the Fuels Europe Annual Conference on 10 June 2026, warned that restoring even 80% of pre-war jet fuel supply levels is unlikely before the end of the year, and called on industry to further increase production. He noted that while there is currently no supply shortage, commercial jet fuel stocks are declining in parts of Europe, imports from the Middle East have fallen sharply, and supplies from India have been disrupted. The Commissioner stressed that the EU Fuels Observatory, established to monitor fuel production and imports, depends on close cooperation and timely information from industry to anticipate risks.
Tzitzikostas framed the current crisis as a broader lesson on Europe's dependence on imported fossil fuels, linking resilience, competitiveness, and strategic autonomy to secure energy access. He argued that the situation may accelerate progress on alternative fuels, as the gap between fossil and sustainable fuel prices has narrowed and interest in alternative-fuel vessels and technologies is growing. The Commissioner emphasised that demand-side policies under frameworks like the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), ReFuelEU Aviation, and FuelEU Maritime are critical to creating market certainty for investors, but acknowledged that sustainable fuels remain expensive and demand has not yet reached the scale needed to unlock investment.
Policy orientation and concrete proposals
The speech contained few concrete new proposals, instead reiterating existing policy frameworks and calling for accelerated implementation. Tzitzikostas urged industry to examine whether further jet fuel production increases are possible, and encouraged continued cooperation with the EU Fuels Observatory. He positioned transport policy as intersecting with economic, industrial, energy, and security policy, advocating for an ambitious but pragmatic transition that is flexible and technology-open. The Commissioner did not announce new funding, targets, or legislative measures, focusing instead on the need to align decarbonisation with competitiveness and security of supply.
Stakeholder impacts
The speech's implications are most direct for European fuel producers and refiners, who face pressure to maximise jet fuel output while also investing in alternative fuels amid uncertain demand. Transport operators, particularly airlines and shipping companies, confront rising costs and fuel availability risks, but may benefit from accelerated infrastructure deployment under AFIR. European consumers and businesses face elevated fuel prices in the near term, with potential long-term gains from reduced fossil fuel dependence. EU regulatory bodies gain a reinforced mandate to monitor fuel markets and push for alternative fuel adoption, though implementation challenges remain. The speech did not address specific costs or timelines for new measures, leaving the balance between ambition and pragmatism largely undefined.
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