ABSTRACT

The energy sector represents one of the most paradoxical areas of the European Union (EU). On the one hand, energy had been the main cause of European integration: indeed, the first two European Communities covered coal and nuclear energy policies. On the other hand, neither the energy security policy nor the energy market regulation have ever become the subject of the supranational policy. The trend is confirmed by the European Commission’s recently published Green Paper on energy security which also outlines the need for a Community energy policy at both internal and external levels (Bahgad 2006). Nevertheless, the active involvement of the supranational authorities in the energy security does not reallocate this strategic sphere away from national competences.