The new EU energy policy: Economic rationality for the single market?

The European Commission and the EU Member States, pushed by global realities, made an attempt in 2006 and 2007 to come up with a new, effective view of the energy sector in the context of the European Union and European integration. This attention was also supported by the increased interest of researchers as well as public opinion. This is related both to the definition of key priorities and the strategy for addressing them. Even though we are talking about documents issued within a single year, we can see progress in their development. The implementing documents from the beginning of year 2007(The Energy Packet of the European Commission of January, and the Action Plan the Energy Policy for Europe of March) are not as radical as was the strategy for European Policy presented in the Green Book published in March 2006. We should also ask whether the Energy Policy is really a 'new', economically rational, implementable one corresponding to the main challenges of the 21st century. The predetermination of the Energy Packet sounds rather alarming: The European Union should lead the world into a new industrial revolution. The strong words used at the beginning of the Lisbon strategy have not yet fallen into oblivion.