At today’s North Sea Summit in Hamburg, leaders and energy ministers of the North Sea region committed to cooperate closely to speed up the development of stable, secure and affordable offshore energy and hydrogen and make European industry more globally competitive.
Today’s renewed commitment comes against the backdrop of a changing geopolitical landscape, high energy costs and severe impact of climate change.
A series of declarations signed at the summit sets out specific actions and timelines to de-risk investments to connect electricity grids across borders in the region and strengthen the energy system against physical, cyber or hybrid attacks. In doing so, the region becomes less dependent on expensive fossil fuel imports.
The following were signed at the summit
- Leaders’ Declaration on building a North Seas power hub for a resilient and competitive Europe
- Joint Offshore Wind Investment Pact for the North Seas by region’s leaders, industry and Transmission Systems Operators (TSOs) to strengthen energy security, competitiveness and decarbonisation through electricity and hydrogen networks and invest in jobs and skills in the sector
- Ministerial Declaration on closer coordination to accelerate offshore wind and hydrogen projects, including through better cross-border planning and financing
Representing the Commission at the North Sea Summit, Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen said
‘In these turbulent geopolitical times, Europe must stand strong and united — and choose independence. That means doubling down on clean, safe, home-grown energy. It means building on our natural strengths, and few are greater than the North Sea and its vast offshore wind potential. It means strengthening our interconnections so that affordable energy can flow freely across our continent. And it means securing our industrial leadership while guaranteeing our security. This is Europe’s path to true independence.’
Leaders also pledged to coordinate closely on the planning, cost-sharing and financing of cross-border offshore projects in the North Sea, as well as on providing quality jobs, the right skills and targeted research and development.
Work will be coordinated through the North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC) High-level Group, with the Commission as co-President. NSEC is a long-established regional forum with proven experience in cross-border cooperation on offshore renewables in the region.
Today’s commitments reinforce the ambition of the European Grids Package presented by the Commission in December 2025 to improve grids planning, cross-border cost and benefit sharing and permitting for grids, renewables and storage.
They support our work to bring down energy costs, as driven by our flagship Affordable Energy Action Plan as well as guidance on two-way contract for difference for EU countries to design support schemes. This benefits both consumers and developers and incentivises investments in clean technologies.
The Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) are also working together to leverage financing via InvestEU and support EU-financed projects of common and mutual interest.
Background
The North Sea Summit was first held in Denmark in 2022, in the midst of the energy crisis. It brings together countries of the North Sea region, industry and other stakeholders to strengthen cooperation to boost the offshore energy sector.
The 2026 North Seas Summit was attended by all participating EU countries (Ireland, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Denmark), plus Norway, Iceland, the UK and representatives of the European Commission and NATO.