Origin and development of the EU’s common energy policy

Abstract

What was the beginning of the functioning of the EU common energy
policy? What role did the energy policy play in the development of the
European integration process at its different stages? What consequences
does it have for further integration projects and for the future of the EU
energy policy? The article looks for answers to those questions by presenting
a historical outline and the origin of the common energy policy. The aim of
the article is to analyse the history of the development of the common energy
policy from the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and
Steal Community in 1951 until the period preceding the signing of the Treaty
of Lisbon in 2007. The author focuses particularly on the factors dynamising
the process, the so-called “engines of the integration” (i.e. the role of the
market) and on the factors of success (i.e. the role of the institutions and
law) taking also into account the specific role of the external factors (such as
foreign policy and the economic situation on the global markets). The article
also describes the evolution of the aims of the common energy policy and
presents the causes and circumstances of their formation, and, at the end,
it indicates a need of a balance between these aims. In the last part of the
article, the author presents observations, which are relevant to the analysis
of the current energy problems in Europe as well as to the future of the EU
energy policy.