The EU and energy security By Katinka Barysch
This article was submitted as evidence by the Centre for European Reform for the review of the balance of competences between the United Kingdom and the European Union (Foreign Policy) Energy security has several dimensions, among them: The domestic energy mix: which mix of domestic resources (conventional and unconventional gas, coal, renewables, nuclear) is best suited to ensure that the UK’s energy needs are met? Efforts to reduce overall energy demand also fall into this category. Resilience of the domestic energy system: how do we need to design and build our energy system so that it is best able to withstand disruptions? External supply security: can we rely on the Middle East, Qatar, Russia and other hydrocarbon producing states to deliver our vital energy needs? Implications of energy for international security: how will resource competition or the consequences of climate change impact on the UK’s security?
How does the EU add value and what are the comparative (dis)advantages of working through the EU? Domestic At the domestic level, the Lisbon treaty leaves member-states to decide their own national energy mix. However, the EU’s multiple targets restrict that freedom in practice.1 The EU’s target for 20 per cent reduction in energy demand is non-binding but it does provide incentives for member-states to increase energy efficiency and so lower their overall demand for energy (see for example UK Green deal for buildings). The obligation to shift 20 per cent of energy production to renewables and to reduce carbon emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 will reduce the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels and therefore on outside energy suppliers. The occurrence of natural resources such as shale gas will also have considerable implications for the energy security of the EU and its individual member-states.2 The EU also has programmes for the construction of pan-European power and gas networks. For the 1: Katinka Barysch (ed), ‘Green, safe, cheap: Where next for EU energy policy?’, CER report, September 2011, http://www.cer.org.uk/publications/archive/report/2011/green-safecheap-where-next-eu-energy-policy.
continental European member-states, especially smaller ones, this integration into an evolving pan-European energy market delivers a significant increase in energy security.3 In the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), spending on the ‘Connecting Europe’ facility (which also includes transport and broadband) has been cut from an originally proposed €50 billion to €29 billion to achieve an overall cap on EU spending. Nevertheless, EU infrastructure policies, such as rules for accelerated planning and approval of cross-border projects, help to physically connect EU energy markets. For the UK, the benefits are tangible but less significant because of its island character, North Sea resources (although diminishing) and LNG import facilities. The EU has also agreed on standards to make power and gas systems more resilient to disruptions, for example as a result of power failures or severe weather. 2: Katinka Barysch, ‘Shale gas and EU energy security’, CER insight, June 2010, http://www.cer.org.uk/insights/shale-gas-and-eu-energy-security. 3: Stephen Tindale, ‘Connecting Europe’s energy systems’, CER policy brief, October 2012, http://www.cer.org.uk/publications/archive/ policy-brief/2012/connecting-europes-energy-systems..
The EU and Energy Security March 2013
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