Resumen de Key Strategic Decisions for Europe in Energy and Climate Change
Paul Isbell, Federico Steinberg
The three-pronged challenge of energy policy is to improve energy security, guarantee environmental sustainability and enhance economic competitiveness. The countries of Europe, however, do not, on their own, possess the energy resources sufficient to easily attain all three of these goals simultaneously over the short-term. Therefore, Europe�s goal is to design a coherent energy policy, supported by all of its member states, that allows it to blend the international leadership it has already exercised and demonstrated on climate change with the development of cutting-edge energy sectors that will enhance the competitiveness of European economies through the stimulation of technological innovation, the creation of global sectoral leaders, and the long-term reduction of energy and other input costs. At the same time, the EU should develop more fully a short-term strategy to manage more skilfully the EU�s relations with the countries supplying the bulk of its hydrocarbon imports � particularly natural gas � in order to maximise security of supply. To achieve this triple objective will require strengthening the EU�s single voice within a shifting international geopolitical landscape and taking tough but strategic decisions that will have major long-term implications for individual European countries, the future of the EU, and the stability of the world. The broad outlines of Europe�s energy challenges are well-known: the current fossil fuel-dominated economy contributes to global warming, allows fears of energy security to grow and threatens the competitiveness of European economies in the future. This analysis, therefore, does not seek to be an exhaustive study, but rather to highlight some key aspects of the energy issue that we perceive as the most decisive and strategic.
