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The European Commission on Friday rejected the possibility of a US ban on diesel exports, warning that such a move could damage the European Union’s trust in the United States as a reliable partner.
“We fully reject any ban on diesel. A ban would not be beneficial to anyone. It would undermine our trust in the United States as a reliable partner,” Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told reporters in Brussels.
EU says it will coordinate through the IEA
Itkonen said the EU was ready to act collectively through the International Energy Agency (IEA), which she said would be responsible for organising any possible release of oil stocks. The bloc’s role, she added, is to coordinate member states’ positions within the agency, rather than decide independently whether to release reserves.
EU member states coordinated their positions at an Energy Union Task Force meeting on Friday, Itkonen said, adding that talks with international partners were continuing. The bloc would remain united on any further steps, she said, but declined to say whether it was considering retaliatory measures against Washington. “We take one step at a time,” she said.
EU warns of energy affordability pressures
The comments followed US President Donald Trump’s statement that he might ask European countries to release some of their diesel reserves as his administration weighs restricting US diesel exports amid pressure on global refined-fuel supplies.
Itkonen said the EU currently saw no immediate security-of-supply problem and that oil supplies were stable for the time being. However, high energy prices were creating an affordability crisis for households and industry, she warned.
European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho said France, which holds the G7 presidency this year, plans to convene a video conference of G7 leaders “as soon as possible”. The meeting is intended to coordinate measures to ease energy-price pressures and secure supplies of crude oil and refined products.
Pinho said EU coordination groups had been monitoring energy markets closely for months. European gas prices have risen by 140% since the end of February, when the United States and Iran launched their war on Iran, while diesel prices have doubled, she said.
