EU Law and the Development of a Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy Policy: Opportunities and Shortcomings

At the moment, and in the longer run, the energy and climate change challenge is one of the greatest tests which the EU and its Member States are facing. The need to deliver the triple objectives of the EU’s energy policy, namely a competitive, secure and sustainable energy supply, is stronger than ever. It will take decades to steer our energy system into a more secure and sustainable system. However, the decisions needed to set the EU and its Member States on the right path should be taken now. To ensure that today’s customers and those of tomorrow are supplied with competitively priced, secure and sustainable supplies of electricity, the European energy market requires an over-arching EU legal regulatory framework. An efficient EU regulatory framework for energy law and policy will not only allow the EU and its Member States to achieve the triple objectives, but will also generate the right investment signals for potential investors. It should provide all the market players, such as generators and network operators, with real and effective incentives to invest in the EU energy market. This book analyses whether the current EU regulatory framework for energy law and policy suffices to address the triple objectives of the EU’s energy policy, or by contrast, whether changes to that framework are needed.