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{{cquote|Securing gas supply for good: Given the controversy around Nord Stream 2 as well as Europe’s energy dependence on Russia, what stance should the EU take in order to ensure both a solidary and diversified supply of gas?}}
In 2016, Europe imported 53.5% of its energy needs.<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Energy_production_and_imports Eurostat: Energy Production Statistics 2016]</ref> In the coming years Europe's energy dependency is expected to increase, also due to the decline of domestic gas production in Northwestern Europe.<ref>[https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/20160712_Summary_Ref_scenario_MAIN_RESULTS%20%282%29-web.pdf European Commission: EU reference scenarios 2016]</ref> Given that the reform of the EU’s Emission Trading System (ETS) will lead to a coal-to-gas switching in the electricity sector, natural gas will continue to play an important role in European energy demand. Today, EU countries face three options: cutting back on consumption, develop their shale gas resources or increasing imports. Renewable energies will show strong growth but, despite their centrality in switching to a green energy market, will still need to be complemented by gas.<ref>[http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/analytics/?doc=124714 The Baltic Course analytics]</ref> Therefore the EU is working to develop a new foreign energy policy which will further secure gas supply in the future.
[[File:18983272 1528693077200929 495985229 n.jpg|thumbnail|[https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/20160712_Summary_Ref_scenario_MAIN_RESULTS%20%282%29-web.pdf Gas - production, net imports and demand]]]
[[File:proven_gas_reserve_surrounding_europe.jpg|thumbnail|[http://www.ewi.research-scenarios.de/cms/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Options-for-Gas-Supply-Diversification.pdf Proven gas reserves surrounding Europe]]]
About one quarter of all the energy used in the EU is natural gas, and many EU countries import nearly all their energy supplies, such as the United Kingdom Italy (4575.59%), France Spain (4672.19%), and Germany (61.4%), Spain followed by France (7246.91%) and Italy the United Kingdom (7545.95%).<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/7150363/8-04022016-AP-EN.pdf/c92466d9-903e-417c-ad76-4c35678113fd Eurostat newsrelease: Energy Dependency in the EU 2016]</ref> Some of these countries are also heavily reliant on a single source or a single transport route for the majority of their gas.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/world/europe/23iht-pipeline.4.7231553.html The New York Times "Gaxprom plans pƒlans to re-route controversial European pipeline" 2007]</ref> For the time being, Russia remains Europe’s largest gas supplier, followed by Saudi Arabia and Norway.<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Energy_production_and_imports Eurostat: Energy production and imports 2016]</ref> The high level of mutual dependence involving the two sides may be the key for a future settlement: the European Union relies on Gazprom (the only producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Russia) for about a third of its natural gas supply, and Russia earns significant revenue from selling gas to Europe.<ref>[http://www.gazprom.com/ Gazprom official website]</ref> Yet, in 2017 17% of the global population lacks access to electricity.<ref>[https://www.iea.org/topics/energypoverty/ International Energy Agency (IEA): Energy access and Energy poverty]</ref> Energy poverty in Europe is still a relevant issue, as it affects nearly 11% of the EU population. Due to rising energy prices, low income and poor energy efficient homes, particularly prevalent in Central Eastern and Southern Europe (notably Bulgaria<ref>[https://iaee.org/en/publications/newsletterdl.aspx?id=226 International Association for Energy Economics: Energy Poverty: the Bulgarian Case 2014]</ref> and Greece<ref>[http://www.housingeurope.eu/blog-913/energy-poverty-in-greece Housing Europe: Energy Poverty in Greece 2017]</ref>) around 54 million people in Europe cannot afford to adequately heat their homes at an affordable cost.<ref>[https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/news/energy-poverty-may-affect-nearly-11-eu-population European Commission (Energy): Energy may affect nearly 11% of the EU population, 2015]</ref>
In order to secure gas supply for all and prevent shortages, the EU countries need to be prepared to manage gas supply disruptions if a crisis occurs, both concerning infrastructure and geopolitical tensions. For this reason, the EU is concentrating on developing an effective emergency response, alongside improving gas transmission systems and maintaining stable foreign relations.
==Areas of conflict==
===Energy Union===
The Commission's second Strategic Energy Review (2008)<ref>[http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/trans/106196.pdf Council of European Union: Council Conclusions on "Second Strategic Energy Review - An EU energy security and solidarity action plan" 2009]</ref> and the Commission's Green paper "Towards a secure, sustainable and competitive European energy network" (2008)<ref>[http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=URISERV%3Aen0004 EUR-Lex Green Paper - Towards a secure, sustainable and competitive European energy network]</ref> have not been enough to provide an efficient framework for investments and European integration in gas networks.
For this purpose the European Commission has launched a European [[Energy Union]] in 2014 to ensure secure, affordable and climate-friendly energy for EU citizens and businesses.<ref>[https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/2-years-on-energy-union_en_0.pdf European Commission: Energy and Climate Action 2016 Power-point presentation]</ref> The Energy Union is meant to assure the free flow of energy across borders, the employment of new technologies and renewed infrastructure,<ref>[https://europa.eu/european-union/topics/energy_en European Union (Energy): Energy Union, 2017]</ref> building on the 2030 Energy and Climate Framework and the [[European Energy Security Strategy]]. The 2030 Energy and Climate Framework works on competitiveness and security of the energy system, such as price differences with major trading partners, diversification of supply, and interconnection capacity between EU countries.<ref>[https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy-and-energy-union/2030-energy-strategy European Commission (Energy): 2030 Energy Strategy, 2017]</ref> The Energy Security Strategy sets out short-term and long-term measures aimed at increasing energy efficiency and production, building missing infrastructure, achieving cohesion and transparency amongst Member States on external energy policies, and strengthening the solidarity mechanism between the EU countries.<ref>[https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy-and-energy-union/energy-security-strategy European Commission (Energy): Energy Security Strategy, 2017]</ref>
===Security of Gas Supply Regulation===
On 27 April 2017 an agreement on a new Security of Gas Supply Regulation was reached. The Commission proposed an update of the Security of Gas Supply Regulation of 2010 in order to help prevent potential gas shortages and respond to them if they happen. The new rules ensure a regionally coordinated and common approach to security of supply measures among EU Member States. This will put the EU in a better position to prepare for and manage gas shortages if a crisis occurs. The main improvements are:
==Opportunities==
The fact that energy is a shared competence of the EU could represent an opportunity to '''standardise legislations''' concerning gas transmission infrastructure across EU countries, as well as developing a '''Europe-wide legislative framework''' to support the market and the security of gas supply.
However, there are many boundaries to power exchanges in Europe. The european network of transmission system operators for gas (ENTSOG) <ref>[https://www.entsog.eu/ European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) official website]</ref> published the 2017 edition of the ''Ten year network development plan (TYNDP)'', which offers a view on what is needed to achieve Europe's climate objectives by 2030. The package identifies investment needs, proposed '''priority investments''' and stresses the importance of the creation of the '''single European market for gas'''.<ref>[https://www.entsog.eu/mission ENTSOG official website: Mission]</ref> The gas infrastructure limitations, which locally lead to high dependence or an inability to sufficiently diversify supply sources, would also have an impact in terms of '''competition'''. More specifically, the isolation of Finland prevents the country from mitigating a high Russian supply price. Lack of infrastructure also prevent the Baltic States to share the benefit of their access to LNG with Finland. In Central-Eastern European countries, Russia remains the main gas supplier causing low level of competition. Barriers prevent Greece from sharing its access to LNG with Bulgaria. In Romania, the lack of '''interconnection''' does not allow for Romanian national production to export towards neighbouring countries. Barriers preventing the Iberian Peninsula to fully share the benefits of its access to LNG with France have been identified. The access to LNG in the United Kingdom, France and Belgium cannot benefit countries to the East to their full potential.
Once infrastructure efficiency is achieved, the network can be further enhanced. The future of gas infrastructure also includes synthetic gases and hydrogen. The '''power-to-gas system''' is a technology that converts electrical power to a gas fuel. This is a unique opportunity to optimise renewable generation of energy by connecting it to the already highly interconnected gas transmission network. This would offer efficient and low cost energy transmission and long-term storage in the gas system, while saving investments in new electricity infrastructure.<ref>[https://www.entsog.eu/public/uploads/files/publications/TYNDP/2017/entsog_tyndp_2017_ES_170428_web.pdf ENTSOG - TYNP 2017 Executive Summary]</ref>