ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD

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ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATIONS
100 A. DAGOUMAS
fact that specific regions in the EU, such as the Baltics, Eastern Europe and the Balkan
Peninsula are vulnerable to an energy supply disruption.
Securing an uninterrupted supply of fossil fuels was not the sole policy focus of the EU.
There has been a growing pre-occupation of Europeans with the climate crisis, and in
fact, it is Europe that has played a leading role in international negotiations seeking to
achieve a binding agreement to reduce carbon emissions worldwide. The EU has taken
action within its own territory to actively promote a transition to a low carbon econo-
my. Specifically since 2010, the European Union has been enforcing its 2020 strategy7
by which it sought to diversify its energy mix with renewables, reduce its emissions,
and promote energy efficiency.
In early 2014, the European Union also published a Communication by the
Commission addressed to the European Parliament and the Council, the European
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, on a policy frame-
work for climate and energy policy from 2020 to 2030 8, with the goal of preparing its
energy and climate targets ahead of COP 21 taking place in Paris in December 2015. In
the Commission’s view, the key elements of a new 2030 climate and energy framework
should comprise a Greenhouse gas reduction target at EU level which is shared equita-
bly 9among the member states in the form of binding national targets; a reform of the
Emissions Trading System; an EU level target for the share of renewable energy and
a new European governance process for energy and climate policies based on mem-
ber state plans for competitive, secure and sustainable energy. Energy efficiency would
continue to play a significant role in delivering the Union’s climate and energy goals,
while it called for the establishment of a simplified but effective governance system
for the delivery of climate and energy objectives.
In particular the most recent and ambitious 2030 Framework for climate and energy
aims to help the EU achieve a more competitive, secure and sustainable energy sys-
tem and to meet its long-term 2050 greenhouse gas reductions target. “This strategy
sends a strong signal to the market, encouraging private investment in new pipelines,
electricity networks, and low-carbon technology. The targets are based on a thorough
economic analysis that measures how to cost-effectively achieve decarbonisation by
2050.”10
According to this newly approved framework, achieving the 2030 targets would not
incur costs that are substantially higher than those the EU would need to cover in or-
7. , viewed on July 3, 2015.
8. European Commission COM/2014/15, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament
and the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on
A policy framework for climate and energy in the period from 2020 to 2030:
legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri 0015&from=EN;
energy-strategy/2030-energy-strategy.
9. , uploaded Jan 22 2014, viewed on July 3, 2015.
10. European Commission, 2030 Energy Strategy, viewed on July 2, 2015, <
topics/energy-strategy/2030-energy-strategy>.