Energy security in Central and Eastern European countries: challenges and possible answers

Abstrakt: Huge diff erences in the organization of demand and supply of energy exist between the old and the new European Union (EU) member-states, whereby the new EU members are characterised by the highest dependency rate on energy imports. This constitutes a regional security problem. However, as the new member-states serve as primary intermediaries and/or transit markets between gas and oil supplies to Western Europe, this primarily regional security challenge acquires a very important pan-European dimension. In this sense, energy security in the Central and Eastern European countries (CEEs) can be best characterised as a three-level challenge, i.e. concerning, first, the national level, then the CEEs as a region, and finally the entire EU. The objective of this paper is to dwell on this issue. It is argued that as a means of bypassing this challenge further integration of relevant national energy sectors in the CEE region is needed. This should be accompanied by a thorough reform of the European Energy Policy (EEP).