Europe's energy security: challenges and opportunities

The extreme volatility of global energy markets since the early 2000s has prompted the Commission of the European Communities to issue a new Green Paper, 'A European strategy for sustainable, competitive and secure energy'. This important document seeks to identify the main steps EU members need to take to enhance their energy outlooks. The first section in this article discusses the concept 'energy security'. This is followed by an examination of Europe's energy mix (oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear power and renewables). The third section analyses European efforts to establish and strengthen energy partnerships with Russia, the Caspian Sea region and the Middle East. In other words, the article seeks to examine Europe's efforts to diversify its energy mix and energy sources. The main argument is that stability and predictability in energy markets are shared goals between producing regions and major consumers.