Can the Polish shale gas dog still bark? Politics and policy of unconventional hydrocarbons in Poland

Abstract

The article is based on a throughout analysis of Polish and Western debate on shale gas as well as on interviews with key Polish experts and policymakers, and aims at reconstructing the recent history of development of shale gas in Poland and at mapping how various factors and actors have interacted in this process. Although the country’s membership in the EU makes the understanding of the EU regulatory framework important in this context, the main focus of the article is on how the issues have been addressed in Poland, the country that was believed to be best suited to become European shale gas success story. The article sheds light on how four factors – the national energy governance, social acceptance and geological conditions, combined with the Polish approach to energy security – have contributed to the process of shaping of the Polish policy on development of shale gas in a period between 2005 and 2015. By examining the question of development of unconventional energy resources in the Polish and European context this article seeks to address following questions to be covered in the special issue of the journal:•perceptions of risk and socially constructed debate on unconventional gas;•developments in individual countries (Poland) and in the EU;•national concerns about externalities;•the adequacy of current EU regulation and its reception in member states.