ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses the energy sector within the EU with a special focus on the three small EU member states analysed in the book: Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It examines issues connected to energy consumption and production in the EU member states, and highlights the importance of energy imports from third countries for the EU’s ability to cover its total energy consumption. This need is the reason why external energy relations are important for EU member states and why some of them would like to see a unified approach towards energy importers within the EU. The chapter also examines the key position of natural gas in the energy sector, and identifies political and technical differences between oil and natural gas that make the latter a much more important topic in connection to external energy security, although EU member states import the majority of both from outside the Union.
