Conferring authority in the European Union: citizens' policy priorities for the European Energy Union

Author(s):  
Jale Tosun ◽  
Mile Mišić
Author(s):  
Ana-Maria Iulia Şanta

Abstract The European Commission has the initiative to foster the sector of renewable energy and to build an Energy Union, with a common energy market at the level of the European Union, but is this only an utopic vision or is this possible to achieve? The topic of clean energy is very new and of great interest for the European Union, which is shown by the fact that the European Commission recently adopted on the 30th November 2016 the package “Clean Energy for All Europeans”, which contains proposals for the modernization of the energy market at the level of the European Union. But which are the challenges such a project is confronted with? According to the literature, such challenges are related to the process of liberalization of electricity markets. Conflicts between national interest and international actors of the energy market might occur. Due to the oligopolistic structure of the energy market, there are several barriers to the market entry. In order to answer to the research questions, case studies regarding the liberalization of the energy market will be analyzed in a comparative manner, offering an international overview. Furthermore, the legal provisions on which the common energy policy of the European Union relies, will be analyzed, as well as their economic and social impact. The package “Clean Energy for All Europeans” comprises a proposal of the revised Renewable energy Directive, energy efficiency measures and issues related to the Energy Union Governance. It contains as well proposals for the electricity market design, which will be analyzed and the present paper outlines the contribution of this proposal in building a common energy market of the European Union. What role does competition play in implementing the common energy market of the European Union? Which role do competition authorities have in this context? These are interesting aspects to be analyzed in the present paper.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 334-345
Author(s):  
Ana-Maria Iulia Şanta

Abstract The European Commission has the initiative to foster the sector of renewable energy and to build an Energy Union, with a common energy market at the level of the European Union, but is this only a utopic vision or is this possible to achieve? The topic of clean energy is very new and of great interest for the European Union, which is shown by the fact that the European Commission recently adopted on the 30th November 2016 the package “Clean Energy for All Europeans”, which contains proposals for the modernization of the energy market at the level of the European Union. But which are the challenges such a project is confronted with? According to the literature, such challenges are related to the process of liberalization of electricity markets. Conflicts between national interest and international actors of the energy market might occur. Due to the oligopolistic structure of the energy market, there are several barriers to the market entry. In order to answer to the research questions, case studies regarding the liberalization of the energy market will be analyzed in a comparative manner, offering an international overview. Furthermore, the legal provisions on which the common energy policy of the European Union relies, will be analyzed, as well as their economic and social impact. The package “Clean Energy for All Europeans” comprises a proposal of the revised Renewable energy Directive, energy efficiency measures and issues related to the Energy Union Governance. It contains as well proposals for the electricity market design, which will be analyzed and the present paper outlines the contribution of this proposal in building a common energy market of the European Union. What role does competition play in implementing the common energy market of the European Union? Which role do competition authorities have in this context? These are interesting aspects to be analyzed in the present paper.


Author(s):  
Ana-Maria Iulia Şanta

Abstract The Energy Union is an important issue on the agenda of the European Commission, which is addressed in the package “Clean Energy for All Europeans”, adopted by the European Commission in November 2016. The present paper deals with the role of the Energy Union in ensuring an optimal framework for a common energy market at the level of the European Union, aimed for the benefit of the consumers in the European Union and of a modern and functional business environment. Which perspectives opens this possible win-win situation is a topic to be analyzed in the present article. The Energy Union is a stronger form of integration within the European Union, related to the internal market of the European Union, which brings more than harmonization of standards and mutual recognition: it brings a common policy and shared values. The goal of this project is to ensure consumer protection through common rules and harmonization, which is a trend at the level of the European Union occurring in various fields of activity and business sectors, such as the Energy Union, the Banking Union, data protection and the competition framework. The main focus on the consumer is new, compared to former attempts of harmonization in specific fields. The challenge rising from this project is to achieve a union in a strategic sector, such as energy. Possible aspects that could hamper the building of the union will be analyzed, for example the fact that some member states of the European Union still rely on fossil fuels, such as the coal industry. The switch to renewable energy sources is related to high costs, as well as to social turbulences on the labour market, that have to be taken into consideration. When drafting measures for the Energy Union, the effects on climate change as well as socio-economic parameters have to be weighed, in order to find the proper balance. It is therefore important to draft appropriate measures ensuring a smooth transition from fossil fuels to Clean Energy. The present paper focuses on these measures proposed by the European Commission. The key elements of the Energy Union will be analyzed in the measures drafted by the European Commission in the package “Clean Energy for All Europeans”. Case studies will illustrate the debated aspects and will provide best practice guidelines as a result. An interdisciplinary approach will be used in the present paper, combining economic and legal issues in a comparative manner.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (28) ◽  
pp. 37-85
Author(s):  
Judit Barta

This research studies the law measures of the European Union aiming Energy Union regarding consumer protection in the view of the process of the legislation of the consumer protection, the development of the consumer rights up until the latest Directive 2019/944. Provisions of consumer protection of the Directive are reviewed. The second part of this research looks at the consumer protection on the fields of the electricity service in Hungary, considering how much it complies with the EU regulation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-69
Author(s):  
Torbjørg Jevnaker ◽  
Barbara Saerbeck

The development of the energy policy of the European Union (EU) has been accompanied by organizational reforms of the EU’s energy bureaucracy. Much attention has been paid to Commission President Juncker’s reorganization of the European Commission, including how this has influenced the Energy Union initiative. The establishment of EU agencies has also expanded the EU administration and the capacity for developing new initiatives and coordinating implementation of EU legislation. However, recent research has not been sufficiently connected to policy studies on energy, climate and environment. This article analyses the extent to which two EU agencies—the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, and the European Environmental Agency—augment the policymaking capacity of the Commission by providing information that aids its work. The article ends with a discussion of the potential implications of agencification.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (28) ◽  
pp. 260-288
Author(s):  
Veronika Lehotay

Energy law is gaining ground both at member state and community levels and is becoming a major area of ​​law. The study presents the energy sector regulation of the European Union. For this, it is important to clarify what is meant by energy, energetics, energy policy and energy law. Another important question is where energy law is placed in the legal system. The journey to stabilizing a single European energy union has been long and has still not ended. The study deals with the steps of this process, its main results and the presentation of legislations in this area.


2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 39-48
Author(s):  
O. Yudina

Received 08.05.2020. Energy has always been of particular importance to the European Union. Meanwhile, up to the beginning of the 21st century, this area had been in exclusive competence of member states, with timid attempts of the European Commission (EC) to receive part of the powers in the energy sphere. The article is devoted to the issues of the EU common external energy policy development that was accompanied by a dichotomy of interests between the member-states, which hardly like the idea of the energy sector communitarisation, and the European Commission, which has been the main driver of supranationalisation of the energy sphere for a long period of time. The author characterizes the main achievements towards the EU common external energy policy, including the law regarding the export of energy to neighboring non-member countries through various organizations, such as the Energy Community, the Eastern Partnership, MEDREG, and launching of the European Energy Union (EEU) in 2015. Special attention is paid to external factors that facilitated the enhancement of the European Commission’s role in the energy sphere. The new era for the EU common external energy policy started in 2015 with the EEU and energy security as one of its priority, partly due to the gas crises and political tension between the European Union and Russia. It is noted that the EEU has facilitated the adoption of some EC’s legal proposals that could not be adopted for a long time, such as the mechanism of consultations on new intergovernmental contracts. In general, the creation of the Energy Union should certainly be seen as strengthening the supranational energy competences of the European Commission. It is concluded that the European Commission has made a significant progress towards a common external energy policy, strongly supported by the public opinion that the European Union should speak one voice with third countries. Despite the lack of legally supported competencies in energy for the EC, it gained authority in different directions of the EU energy policy development. Under these circumstances, the common energy market that has led to energy interdependent of the member states, forces them to cooperate at a supranational level. The author argues that third countries should clearly understand the dynamic and processes of communitarisation of the energy sphere and adopt their cooperation with the European Union based on this knowledge.


Author(s):  
Nuran Belet

European Union Commission declared its vision on European Energy Association EEA including comprehensive changes on energy strategy about energy cooperation and climate changes, as well as conversion and its multi-dimensional cooperation objectives with its report European Commission, Energy Union Package, COM 2015-80. Current cost of energy to the European Union damages its competitiveness in the international market due to its high dependence on energy supply. EU will play an active role in the international energy market with EEA on both energy dependence and on energy supply security. Only four countries are listed on the EEA vision document among alternative producers, cooperation with transit countries and strategic partners: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Turkey. Due to its geo-strategic location Turkey is the most affordable and reliable energy transit route between Central Asia and Europe. In this study Turkey’s place as a strategic transit country and its partnership in TAP/TANAP projects as well as its possibility to become a regional energy hub and an oil corridor in the East-West route will be discussed in detail as it is stated in EEA vision document. In this context, possibilities, challenges and related macro-economic policies will be evaluated.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document