While AggregateEU has since been absorbed into a broader set of tools, the Commission is seeking to expand those tools to “facilitate coordinated EU outreach to oil and gas suppliers and partner countries with similar energy import profiles,” it said in written comments set to be delivered later this week, seen by POLITICO. It said it will do this by “fully mobilizing” platforms that succeeded AggregateEU, which include venues for coordinating purchases for hydrogen and raw materials.
The implication is the new platform will also boost coordination around oil purchases, amid growing worries around jet fuel supplies. The Commission will also “seek to step up international cooperation to increase supply from our neighbourhood and through the EU network of trade agreements,” it added.
The goal is to “have bargaining power over Asia,” said one person familiar with the Commission’s position who was granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
But reviving coordinated buying could prove controversial. AggregateEU, the original iteration, was widely criticized, with opponents calling for more transparent data and questioning the Commission’s assertion that the system had broad uptake. Others argued that EU interference could upend delicate supply chains and that bilateral dealmaking between established market participants was more effective.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said earlier this month that the platform has helped aggregate 90 billion cubic meters of gas purchases and match 77 billion cubic meters of demand for the EU since 2023, but it remains unclear whether those figures reflect realized purchases.
Von der Leyen herself acknowledged that the platform needed work. “We do not start from scratch with this coordination in the energy sector, but we can do more and we can do better.”
