The global effects of EU energy regulation

Abstract

The European Union’s internal energy market is founded on a mix of measures employed at various levels of competence, and aimed to safeguard the EU’s key objectives, such as energy security, energy efficiency, and environmental protection. It is generally recognised that institutional features of the internal market provide the EU with considerable capacity to externalise its regulatory measures at different levels of governance. This article assesses the validity of this proposition in the case of EU energy regulation. Analysing instances of the external effects of EU energy law and policy in two dimensions – global and regional – it is shown that even without a consolidated EU internal and external approach, there are considerable effects – both positive and negative from the perspective of EU energy interests – in each of the instances observed. Confirming the contemporary literature on the EU external governance in a wider context, a conclusion is drawn that the internal checks and divisions present the greatest impediment for the more efficient externalisation of EU energy regulation.