The welfare of EU citizens, industry and economy depends on safe, sustainable and affordable energy.
Strategy for energy use
The EU has launched strategies to move towards wiser energy use while fighting climate change.- European Energy Union: the energy flows shall go around unimpeded in a fully integrated, EU-wide energy system, whereby Europe's dependence on fossil fuels is significantly reduced. Market conditions are created, which lead to energy savings and investments in low-CO2 technologies
- Energy Security Strategy: due to the EUs dependence on energy imports, external shocks have an impact within the EU. A strategy for the security of energy supply, which simultaneously reduces the vulnerability to such shocks and increases European energy resources, is thus necessary
- Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E): Focus on linking the energy infrastructure of EU countries
Better energy security
The creation of a functioning internal market and a stronger cooperation at regional and European level is decisive for a better energy security, in particular in order to coordinate the developments in the networks and to open up markets.In addition, common and coherent external trade relationships must be built with clear procedures, which must be respected by the candidate countries and potential candidate countries.