Energy Security in Times of Crisis

Zsolt, Melinda (2023) Energy Security in Times of Crisis. In: Security, Resilience and Sustainability of the European Union. Ludovika Egyetemi Kiadó, Budapest, pp. 247-262. ISBN 9786156598042

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Abstract

The largest part of the European Union’s energy needs comes from outside its borders, and although the goal of improving the import dependency rate has been set for decades, this has not substantially improved. The EU is therefore extremely vulnerable to energy imports, especially from Russia, and its energy security is thus at risk. The integration resulting from the common market also brings difficulties, as do the increasingly strong effects of climate change, while the diversity of member states’ interests makes it difficult to create a common voice. The EU has laid down in strategic documents that, as part of the fight against climate change, energy systems must be changed, switching to renewable energies. For the EU, diversification also results in improved energy security; therefore, it has set ambitious goals for itself in the fight against climate change, and in this fight it is setting itself a global leadership role: becoming the first climate-neutral continent by ­2050. Today, however, energy policy alone is not a sufficient tool, it is necessary to combine several policies. In February 2022, Russia attacked Ukraine and simultaneously began to use the EU’s energy dependence as an economic and political weapon against it. As a result of the emerging energy crisis, the EU has accelerated decision-making, and as a solution, it is trying to become independent from Russian fossil energy sources and speed up the energy transition process. The EU has adopted a total of nine sanction packages against Russia until the end of ­2022 to weaken the Russian economy to the point where it cannot continue the war against Ukraine. The sanction packages also contain a number of energy policy instruments. The set goal for the EU isto become independent from Russia and establish its energy security well before 2030, which, however, still holds many challenges.

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