Introduction

One of the basic aims of the European Union (EU) is to be among the most competitive regions of the globalised world economy. The aim of all welfare states in the EU is to provide a good quality of life for their citizens. To be competitive economically and to provide a good quality of life in a modern welfare state requires – among other things – a very important resource: energy, which should be secured. This means that energy provision for Europe is a security question in all senses, ranging from the economic to social security. However, the EU is very far from being self-sufficient in energy resources, while its economies and societies consume a constantly increasing amount of energy, leading to strong dependency on energy imports. Moreover, Europe has already faced two oil crises (in the 1970s) and a gas crisis (in January 2009). For more than three weeks in January 2009, many member states, mostly the Central and East European countries Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Romania and Bulgaria, were cut off from their Russian gas supplies because of Russian–Ukrainian gas price disputes. This latest, very severe energy crisis, worsened by the general economic recession, has strengthened the view of EU policy makers that a real, common EU energy strategy and policy is needed, based on principles such as overall security and intra-European solidarity.

From a historical point of view we can say that the matter of energy constituted the very basis and background of the European integration process, since the very first steps were connected to energy, with the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951 and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957. Nonetheless, the ideological and political preparations for integration had already been made in 1950 by the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman, who made both direct and indirect references to both energy and intra-European solidarity in his 1950 Declaration, later called the Schuman Declaration. He had idea vision of a peaceful and united Europe, achieved through concrete steps and achievements towards de facto solidarity.