Evolution of EU Energy Policy

Abstract

Energy is a fundamental factor in the construction of European Union (EU) project. The deep interaction and cooperation among the founding members of the Union crystallised around energy considerations. The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) treaties not only established the roots of the European Community but also ensured regular supply of coal and coordination in nuclear energy. However, despite the importance of energy in daily lives, the European Energy Policy ultimately proved to be an unsuccessful example of integration (Pointvogl, 2009, p. 5704). In developments following ECSC and EURATOM, member states remained reluctant to create a common energy policy. To illustrate, the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties did not include chapters on energy and, instead, only mentioned this issue in passing (European Commission, 2000, p. 9). In the Treaty on EU, ‘measures in the spheres of energy, civil protection and tourism’ were lumped together and only Article 129b referred to energy infrastructures together with transport and telecommunication in the discussion of trans-European networks (European Union, 1992). The new Lisbon Treaty also included weak language on energy cooperation, but introduced a new legal basis for EU legislation in the field of energy as well as provisions for qualified majority voting in some areas of energy policy. The Treaty also brought forward an energy solidarity clause – namely, that EU energy policy needed to resonate with a spirit of solidarity between member states (Youngs, 2009, p. 26). In many ways, this weak form of integration is surprising, especially when considering the potential benefits of integration towards a common energy policy (Pointvogl, 2009, p. 5704).