Romania: a key player in the Energy Union for the security of natural gas supply?
In 2015, Maroš Šefcovic, Vice President of the European Commission for Energy Union, was writing about Romania as being «at a crossroads - both in strategic and physical terms.
The first European country to have exported its gas is (re)defining its role as an important regional energy hub. Indeed, for this country, which was the first in Europe to introduce electric street lights and to build a natural gas storage, the Energy Union can be the expected chance to stand up among the leading states in the EU, leaving behind its “laggard” status.
The Energy Union is one of the main priorities of the current commission. Adopted in 2015, the Energy Union sets out an integrated vision of the energy sector, based on three pillars : security, efficiency, and competitiveness, for all of which countries must meet their objectives and coordinate their actions in order to achieve a true energy union. Romania’s strategic geopolitical position ( «a bridge between Eastern Europe, such as Ukraine and Moldova, and Central Europe») and its energy independency recommend it as a pivot-actor in the region with respect to the security of gas supply. However, to which extent is Romania prepared to assume a leading role in the making of the Energy Union, more precisely in ensuring the security of gas supply?
Romania can become and influential actor in insuring security of gas supply through diversification of sources and routes and through enhanced interconnectivity in the Central Eastern and Southern-Eastern Europe region. Its potential in gas production also recommends it for the position of a regional energy hub. However, this potential can only be unleashed if Romania implements in a timely fashion the internal market rules, namely regarding competitiveness, transparency and legal certainty.
The first part of this paper will explain that in order for Romanian gas market potential to become a strategic asset for the Energy Union to rely on, competitiveness must be improved. The second part will discuss Romanian major gas network infrastructure projects, making the case for Romania’s potential to become a key player in the Energy Union by boosting security of supply through new routes and increased interconnectivity with other member states and Energy Community members. In the end, this paper will draw on the challenges that Romania still needs to overcome in order to become a reliant partner for the EU on energy security issues.
> Read the article in the Sciences Po Review of Public Affairs, No. 2, August 2018
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Diana-Paula GHERASIM
Chercheuse, responsable des politiques européennes de l’énergie et du climat, Centre énergie et climat de l'Ifri
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Ifri's Energy and Climate Center carries out activities and research on the geopolitical and geoeconomic issues of energy transitions such as energy security, competitiveness, control of value chains, and acceptability. Specialized in the study of European energy/climate policies as well as energy markets in Europe and around the world, its work also focuses on the energy and climate strategies of major powers such as the United States, China or India. It offers recognized expertise, enriched by international collaborations and events, particularly in Paris and Brussels.
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