Energy policy in the European Community: conflicts between the objectives of the unified single market, supply security and a clean environment

Policies for energy and the environment in Europe were previously the preserve of national governments, but the Commission of the European Community has gained a role in both policy areas in the past few years. This was due to the 1987 Single European Act which, in effect, extends the writ of competition law throughout the energy and other previously excluded sectors, expresses the desire to reduce acid rain and greenhouse gas emissions, and reaffirms Europe's renewed concern for long-term oil and gas supply security after the Gulf War and the disintegration of the USSR. The Commission's proposals for the unified internal energy market were driven by concern for competition and free market forces, and seemed to exclude any scope for long-term policy considerations. This paper argues that the implementation of those proposals will be uneven and protracted, and that the Commission's more recent proposals for reducing CO2 emissions and the European Energy Charter appear to mark positive steps towards a long-term strategy for a clean environment, energy efficiency, and oil and gas supply security. 27 refs., 4 tabs