Whither the Liberal European Union Energy Model? The Public Policy Consequences of Russia’s Weaponization of Energy

We argue that the Ukraine crisis is a watershed moment in European energy policy because two major shifts are unfolding in the shadow of short-term crisis management. The first is a paradigm change, from a liberal to a more interventionist approach to the EU energy market and international energy trade.1 Because of the national security implication of energy trade, EU governments are unlikely to relinquish their newfound role in energy markets in the way that they wound down state intervention after the financial crisis. The second shift involves the securitization of the transition to a low-carbon economy. Because renewable energy has acquired a role in national security, it is now subject to a much broader range of policy tools than merely those of climate policy. This throws up questions about the EU’s strategic options for dealing with energy security.