| dc.description.abstract | EU Member States are being confronted with a range of varied and complex issues
within their energy markets, which require considerable effort and ingenuity to
mitigate. Theses issues and problems are particularly apparent in the European natural
gas market. Natural gas has become one of the key elements of the energy mix in a
number of EU Member States and continues to develop rapidly in newly emerging gas
markets. A lack of significant natural gas resource endowments in much of the EU
means that many Member States have become highly dependent on gas imports,
particularly from non-EU countries.
Despite the European Commission's long held objective of bringing about both a
harmonised and a liberalised EU gas market, this aim remains far from being reached.
This is attributable to a discernible reluctance within some Member States and various
gas industry stakeholders to work on the creation of such a market and, in so doing, to
simultaneously address the increasingly important issue of security of supply. Within
this context, and as individual markets continue to liberalise ahead of full market
opening in July 2007, it becomes increasingly apparent that existing EU legislation is
often insufficient to establish a harmonised and fully liberalised single European gas
market that also supports security of gas supply.
This thesis addresses the question of what conditions are required to create a more
harmonised, liberalised and secure EU gas market. This analysis is undertaken in the
following manner. First, the issue of security of supply is discussed in the context of
the currently changing legal and regulatory structure across the EU. It then analyses
existing EU legislation, guidelines and Commission decisions and examines how
these documents support the establishment of a liberalised and harmonised single
European gas market that addresses security of supply issues. Following this
discussion the thesis then undertakes case studies of three key and pivotal European
gas markets - The Netherlands, Austria and Germany - to analyse (with specific
reference to individual gas market characteristics) whether national legislation will
serve to improve overall EU gas market harmonisation and liberalisation efforts.
Finally, this thesis concludes with specific recommendations on what is necessary to
create a more harmonised and liberalised EU gas market that also supports security of
gas supply. | en_US |
