Eu Common Energy Policy Analysis And Enlightenment

In today's world, energy is an indispensable condition for the creation of wealth. As a large consumer, but a small and declining producer, of fossil fuels, Europe is increasingly dependent on imports for its supplies. Its reserves amount to less than 1% of the world total in the case of oil, 1.5% in the case of natural gas and 4% in the case of coal. The global energy dependency of the European Union is today of of 50%. By way of comparison, the corresponding figure for North America is only 17%. The EU competitiveness and its standard of living are therefore directly vulnerable to price rises and to any geopolitical crises liable to affect its supplies. Energy is of crucial importance for Europe's survival, competitiveness and, in a word, the continuation of its way of life.The EU member states are becoming aware that to enhance their energy security, they must act collectively facing the new energy challenges. In this background, on 8 March 2006,the European Commission published a Green Paper on developing a common, coherent European Energy Policy. It is widely believed to be a milestone document in the EU common energy policy development.The paper reviews the motives behind this initiative and explores possible ways to its development. The paper believes that two factors would hinder the development of the EU common energy policy. Internally, the refusal to enable the EU to take a position on the energy options chosen by individual Member States will rule out any concerted policy. Externally, Russia, the major energy partner of the EU, would make full use of its energy weapon to achieve its strategic objective, which would hamper the efforts of the EU to take a common stance towards Russia in energy dialogue. In the end, the paper will discuss the implications of the EU common energy policy towards China.