Newest challenges of the European Union’s energy policy - legal aspects

Abstract

In the face of the most recent geopolitical events in Europe that have been carrying the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, there have been significant changes on the European Union’s energy market. The aim of this article is to analyse and assess the practice of managing energy in the European Union from the perspective of EU energy in the context of these crises. It will present legislative changes at the Union level in the energy policy sector that are driven by these events and that force a change in attitudes towards energy management. It will use methods typical to law studies, that is the analysis of the law in force, the analysis of the development of relevant laws in history and legal comparison. Research results and conclusions point out that urgent binding legislative changes on the EU forum are necessary to adjust the energy policy to the existing reality and to face the most recent trials. Further legislative steps will be necessary to become independent from Russian raw materials and, primarily, to adapt the provisions of the European Green Deal and to provide further guidance to eliminate administrative barriers and to protect consumers on the energy market. The final part of the article identifies measures the EU must take in the short-, mid- and long-term perspective.