Dear President von der Leyen,
Dear Commissioner Zaharieva,
Dear Commissioner Jørgensen,

Europe is once again bracing for the long-term impacts of an energy shock, this time triggered by the conflict in Iran. Must we really accept that Europe’s energy system is destined to lurch from crisis to crisis?

We believe Europe must and can do better.

For too long, Europe has relied on external dependencies for energy, critical technologies, and strategic raw materials. We have grown complacent with the status quo, adopting emergency measures when in need, and focusing on incremental improvements at best.

This must change. Political leaders in the EU and its Member States must shift from short-term solutions to a long-term plan that delivers energy security, reduces structural dependencies, strengthens technological sovereignty and prevents future disruptions from dictating our economic fate.

This goal today is within our reach. We are on the cusp of a new kind of energy source that will be as impactful as the steam engine when it first arrived over 150 years ago. An energy source has the potential to fundamentally reshape how Europe produces and secures energy. Not incrementally, but structurally.

That source is fusion. Fusion is the reaction that powers the stars - and one we can now reproduce on Earth. It can release up to ten million times more energy than fossil‑fuel combustion, without emitting CO₂ and without the risk of meltdown or chain reactions. Fusion most commonly uses hydrogen isotopes as fuel, which can be sourced abundantly: deuterium from seawater, and tritium can be bred in closed fuel cycles from lithium.

Moreover, fusion is no longer a distant dream. Sites for fusion power plants have already been identified in Germany, the UK and Sweden. The US, China, Japan, and Canada are scaling up public support and private investment. Europe now faces a strategic choice: stay among the leaders of this transition or continue to depend on technologies and value chains developed elsewhere.

We, the CEOs of Europe’s leading fusion and industrial companies, therefore urge the European Commission to present an EU Fusion Strategy that gets the level of ambition right from the start - because the stakes could not be higher. The world is watching how Europe positions itself in this defining technological race, and whether it has the courage to set the right incentives and signals to enable the emergence of commercial fusion power plants in the 2030s. Europe has one chance to set the trajectory — and it must seize it. Europe’s industrial base is ready to support commercial fusion, and there is broad alignment across the ecosystem on the need for a clear and ambitious strategy.

The strategy must recognise fusion as a strategic priority for Europe’s competitiveness, energy security, and net‑zero objectives. It must be ambitious, technology‑neutral and outcome-oriented. It must prioritise milestone‑based funding that incentivises private investment and rewards progress and performance. It must set out concrete steps to integrate fusion into existing EU regulatory frameworks, ensuring that it is treated differently from fission, reflecting its fundamentally lower risk profile. It must strengthen, adapt and expand European supply chains and workforce capabilities, ensuring that value creation remains in Europe.

A strategy alone, however, will not put Europe at the forefront of the international commercial fusion race. It must be accompanied by an action plan that commits budget, mobilises capital and sets a favourable and predictable regulatory pathway to make commercial fusion happen.

The benefits will be transformative: clean and abundant energy, industrial renewal, technological leadership, high-skill jobs for a generation of European talent working on one of humanity’s most ambitious endeavours. It is a future we can approach with confidence rather than apprehension.


Sam Guilaumé, CEO, Renaissance Fusion,
Thomas Forner, CEO & Co-Founder, Focused Energy
Moritz von der Linden, CEO, Marvel Fusion
Francesco Sciortino, CEO & Co-Founder, Proxima Fusion
Peter Roos, CEO, Novatron Fusion
Abraham Taherivand, Chief Corporate Development Officer, Gauss Fusion GmbH
Fulvio Terzuoli, CEO & Co-Founder, NINEFusion
Martin Fraunhoffer, Managing Director, Dr. Stefan Koch, Head of Global Sales, DWE Gmbh
Dr. Michael Pekeler, Managing Director, RI Research Instruments GmbH
Erik Fernandez and Ulf Thiele, Spokespersons of the Board, Fusion Europe
Andrew Holland, CEO, Fusion Industry Association
Ulf Thiele, Spokesperson of the Board, ProFusion German Fusion Industry Association
Magdalena Wasik, Project Manager, Riemann Systems