On 19 and 20 April, a workshop of the UACES Collaborative Research Network on European Energy Policy will be held in Maastricht (Student Services Centre, Karl Dittrich room). Participation is free of charge, but registration is required.
In a context of multiple crises having centrifugal effects on the EU, energy policy is often named as one of the few areas still exhibiting strong integration dynamics, and even as a potential ‘saviour’ for European integration. The Energy Union, launched in 2015 as a key priority for Jean-Claude Juncker’s European Commission, encapsulates this ambition. At the same time, however, unlike other ‘Union’ concepts adopted within the EU (e.g. Monetary or Banking Union), the Energy Union has so far not led to additional transfers of competence from the Member States to the EU level. Paradoxically, in some aspects of EU energy policy, the tendency has even been in the opposite direction: EU institutions’ authority remains contested and sometimes is ‘reclaimed’ by Member States. Bringing together experts from different disciplinary and professional backgrounds, this workshop seeks to understand these parallel (dis)integration trends in the energy policy domain. The workshop is organised into four panels covering a wide range of topics, including institutional developments, electricity and gas markets, sustainability and energy security.
