Europe’s Energy Union – a problem of governance

This Comment explores how far the EU can go towards the goal of an Energy Union. The European Commission announced ambitious plans for such a Union earlier this year and followed it up with a number of supporting proposals. However, the Comment identifies a fundamental underlying problem – of governance. The Commission has limited formal powers in relation to energy. It has not so far sought to fill the gap by engaging in the sort of innovative policy making which would be needed to reconcile the contradictions in existing policy in this area, instead relying on bureaucratic measures and processes, which are unlikely to deliver. There is a risk that the EU will move further away from, rather than closer to, a true Energy Union.

By: Malcolm Keay , David Buchan