The way towards an energy policy for Europe

The quest for a European energy policy has been at the heart of the European integration since World War II. Since the aftermaths of the two oil shocks, all attempts to create a Common Energy Policy failed so far. The paper seeks to identify why Europe needs to define a coherent and ambitious energy policy. It examines to what extent Europe today has the opportunity and the instruments to achieve a better solution towards an energy policy which balances the asymmetrical energy positions of the Member States and makes their decisions coherent in the internal and external fields of action. The new triangle of Lisbon-Moscow-Kyoto is at the basis of the European energy policy, combining the goal of competitiveness with energy security and sustainability. By focusing on the current EU proposals, mainly on the 2006 Commission Green Paper on competitive, secure and sustainable energy and the way ahead to an Energy Policy for Europe, it gives insight into the background of the Green Paper and the launch of a new integrated approach in EU policy making in the field of energy.