The European Energy Security: The Case of Natural Gas

Gas represents an important component of Europe’s energy architecture. Having limited gas resources at home, Europe needs to import much of the gas it utilizes. This arises a security issue, as importing large volumes of gas from a limited amount of countries (like Russia) exposes Europe to an important vulnerability. For instance, should Russian gas supplies to Europe be interrupted for a political reason, many European citizens could not warm up their house, and many European industries could no longer produce. This vulnerability could even have an impact on Europe’s foreign policy. This lecture provides an overview of these problematic, outlying that only a strong European Union’s action on energy security could represent a solid answer to the continent’s challenges in the field.