Geopolitical Monitor: Energy Security in the EU: Pipelines, Powers, and Political Relations

The term “energy security,” despite its pessimistic applications and loose definitions, is profligately used in policy circles and academic fields. Limiting disruptions of supply to broader definitions, which have political, economic, and/or environmental bearing, is common of energy security treatments. According to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, it is taken as a country’s ability to ensure that the “risks of interruption to energy supply, are low.”

Three dimensions of energy security should be underscored: physical security, price security, and geopolitical security. Optimum energy security is achieved by avoiding physical interruptions, “unnecessary price spikes due to supply/demand imbalances or poor market operation” and “undue reliance on specific nations so as to maintain maximum degrees of freedom in foreign policy.” While some cover energy security from the perspective of the consumer, the significance of energy dependence on supply-countries still tends to receive less coverage in the media.

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