The European Union in its present-day form is the result of various associations of individual states such as the ECSC and the EEC. These organisations were founded in the 1950s, in part to enable the production and trading of energy under common sets of rules. However, a truly coherent energy policy did not emerge until 2007 when the European Energy Strategy was first adopted. Current challenges include issues such as climate change and energy efficiency, the dependence on fossil fuel imports, the energy transition or the return of the US to fossil fuels.
Energy
The journey from a coal union to the energy transition
The gas ‘poker game’ between Russia and Europe
The drop in Russian gas flows to the European Union has had no major effect on supplies, but it raises pressure on the region to wean itself off Moscow's energy
Russian gas stop clouds outlook for solar panel supplier
In a glassworks in Tschernitz, a stone's throw from the border with Poland, the roar of the furnaces cannot drown out worried whispers about Russian gas supplies to Germany being cut off
EU embargo on Russian oil, gas will take ‘months’
The EU is working on broadening sanctions on Russia to include oil and gas embargoes but such measures would take "several months", European officials have told AFP
From Denmark to Portugal, Europe ups effort to quit Russian gas
In Denmark, large black pipes are about to be buried in a muddy trench, as construction of a gas pipeline from Norway to Poland resumes following Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Putin warns EU nations need ruble accounts to get gas
President Vladimir Putin has warned "unfriendly" countries, including all EU members, they will be cut off from Russian gas unless they open an account in rubles to pay for deliveries
Europe can only partially replace Russian gas
Russia furnishes over 40% of the natural gas Europe imports and in the event it invades Ukraine again those supplies could be at risk, throwing into question European countries's ability to keep the heat on in the dead of winter