The european path towards a new paradigm of energy production and consumption

Abstract

The European Union has decided to follow a new path in terms of energy production and consumption, migrating as quickly as possible to the production of green energy. This decision came about as an inevitable consequence of climate change and global environmental issues. This article reveals some consequences of the multiple crises (economic, political, monetary, trust in state institutions etc.) and especially of the energy crisis triggered around this decision, in the European Union including Romania, starting from the hesitations of the factors determined to apply the tough but necessary measures for changing the paradigm in the field of energy sectors (this also on the background of the war from Ukraine). The article also discusses Romania's particular situation from an energy perspective. On the one hand, we are talking about a rate of dependence on imports much lower than the average European rate, and on the other hand, we are talking about a population that for many decades has achieved the lowest energy consumption per inhabitant in Europe (and as a result of the massive dislocation of the national industrial branches. Would it therefore be appropriate for the Romanian population to be imposed an additional austerity regime at this time? The article cites some relevant international and Romanian publications in the field, using international statistics documents (from Eurostat, EC, WB etc.) as well as national data (INS, BNR etc.).