ABSTRACT
This chapter describes European Union (EU) energy policy before examining how the European Commission has assessed the fit between Turkey's laws and various parts of the energy acquis. It analyzes how cost-benefit calculi and domestic political forces either permitted 'accommodative' or 'adoptive' changes in Turkey's energy sector, thus narrowing misfit, as in the electricity market, renewable energy and energy efficiency, or generated further 'inertia', as in oil stockpiling, bulk gas-importation and nuclear power. The chapter assesses the reasons for acquis-consistent changes in Turkey's energy sector, finding that domestic and external non-EU factors played strong motivating roles, especially in initial reform of the energy market and later improvements in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Conversely, while EU energy policy embodies environmental objectives, it also advocates supply diversification, raising expectations that Turkey would serve as an 'energy corridor' between new suppliers and European importers.
