Sustainable development and energy in the european union

Sustainable development represents a core objective of the European Union, being embodied through out its major polices. In the field of energy, the EU objectives, commonly known as ä20-20-20ö initiative, aim at ensuring a competitive, secure and sustainable energy for European households and industries by reducing the emissions of green house gases, an efficient use on energy and increasing the use of renewable energy. The present paper draws a review on the most important aspects of EU energy policy, its measures, results and costs from the perspective of security of supply, competitiveness of price and green house gases emissions. The aim is to highlight the trade offs which are involved in the orientation towards a sustainable path of the energetic sector of the European Union. (authors)