The 2022 natural gas price shock triggered the largest rise in fossil fuel prices in Europe since the 1970s. This column examines the impact on euro area potential output, showing that the decline was significantly cushioned by endogenous gains in energy efficiency. Without these efficiency gains – driven in the authors’ model by firms reallocating R&D toward energy-saving technologies – the potential output loss would have been about two thirds larger. Looking ahead, policy should prioritise deeper EU energy market integration to lower prices and reduce the risk of price spikes, alongside an ambitious productivity agenda.