Then singling out EU countries becomes silly.
Then singling out EU countries becomes silly.
EU (collectively or independently) is distinct only in that it is ahead of the pack on many of these topics, hence why the Netherlands diesel price is higher than the US price, as noted by the comment I replied to.
But EU countries could and should still go further.
In fact, as someone that lives in one of those countries, I am actually viewing the events in the middle east with optmism. The closure of Hormuz and Bab-el Mandeb are the sort of harsh push that we needed to get out of our collective asses and cut our dependency on a resource that is in every angle you look at terrible for those who depend on it.
I am not naive, and I know that it is not possible to cut it entirely (oil is used for more than fuel). But if we stop depending on it for vehicles, electricity generation, heating and ao on, it will make a huge difference already.