EWC Mandatory
Introduction
The energy strategy of the European Union is the set of common policies and actions emanating from the Commission, the Council and the Parliament, included in the Treaties and ratified by the Member States to act on the quantity, cost and availability of the different sources of energy, with special consideration to the preservation of the environment, security of supply and strategic autonomy.[1].
The EU has had legislative power in the field of energy policy throughout its existence, having its roots in the original European Coal and Steel Community. The introduction of a mandatory and comprehensive energy policy was approved at the European Council meeting in October 2005, and the draft policy was published in January 2007.[2].
The Commission has five key points in its energy policy: increasing competition in the internal market; encouraging investment and increasing interconnections between electricity networks; financing of new energy technologies.[2].
It is easy to see that, despite being at the origin of the Union, it has experienced a certain delay compared to other areas, largely due to the overlap of particularistic national interests. However, in recent years, since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, unitary approaches are accelerating, perhaps driven by the realization of a physical fact: the scarcity of own sources, which forced the import of more than 40% of the resources used in 2010, with a clear tendency to exceed 60% in 2030.
Background
Since its origins, the European Union has had energy at the center of its attention. It should not be forgotten that the first European Communities, the embryo of the current Union, were:
• - 1952: Coal and Steel Treaty, ECSC.
• - 1957: Treaty on nuclear energy, Euratom.
This energetic commitment was explicitly stated in the “Messina Declaration of 1955, whose final statement stated:
Despite such promising beginnings, in the following 30 years there was little progress in the formulation of a common energy policy. Although the crisis of 1973 and the subsequent rebound of 1978 showed the fragility of Europe in the provision of resources, showing the need to formulate the master lines of solidarity action, no significant progress was achieved.
The Treaty of the European Union failed to create its own chapter for energy, although the sector is mentioned only in the list of objectives (article 3 U or former article 3 T); Periodic attempts to extend EU jurisdiction have met with rejection by several member states that consider energy “strategic material”. This nationalist vision was supported by the different energy models of each nation: type of market, composition of primary energy, sources of supply, efficiency, etc.