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Energy Security: The Legal Approaches In Europe And In Russia
 
PIIS231243500022033-4-1
DOI10.18572/2410-4390-2018-3-93-99
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Sergey V. Kozlov 
Affiliation: University of Regensburg
Address: Germany
Journal nameEnergy law forum
EditionIssue 3
Pages93-99
Abstract

The article considers the legal meaning of the notion of energy security taking into account the energy interests of various states, outlines and analyses the main components of energy security and the state’s role in their ensuring. It also studies the legal fundamentals of energy security at the level of the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as the sources of national legal regulation with Germany and Russia taken as examples. Among the main components of energy security, one can distinguish, inter alia, the proper technical condition of the energy infrastructure and ensuring of the reliability of its functioning (including its accident-free operation and security), the availability of an amount of energy (energy resources) of appropriate quality at any time sufficient to satisfy the existing demand, affordable consumer prices, and the compliance of the energy supply and the operations in the sphere of energy with the environmental requirements and standards. Studying the role of the state in ensuring energy security, the author notes that the state uses both the methods of public law and those of private law and concludes that the role of the state in ensuring energy supply security consists, on the one hand, in forecasting of demand and supply, ensuring of favorable environment for the energy companies’ operation, regulation, state monitoring (surveillance), energy (energy resources) quality regulation, and implementation of the state energy policy, and, on the other hand, in influencing directly the energy (energy resources) production using the private law methods by way of holding stakes in the authorized (share) capital of energy companies and participating in corporate decisions making. Based on the research findings, a range of proposals has been formed, particularly, on the necessity to define the notion “energy security” in the laws in effect, and the author’s definition of the notion is suggested.

Keywordsenergy law, energy security, legal regulation of energy supply security and reliability, energy resource prices
Received06.08.2018
Publication date30.09.2018
Number of characters20569
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Table of contents

The notion of energy security: the European and the Russian approach
1

The notion of energy security: the European and the Russian approach
2 The first and one of the key questions related to energy security ensuring is the question of the meaning of this notion, since the political and legal, economic, and other tools to ensure energy security are developed depending on what is understood as “energy security”.
3 The answer to the question “What is energy security?” is not universal. There is no single and unambiguous approach in the world to what should be understood by the term. Apart from that, energy security varies from one nation to another; accordingly, no common universal means exist to ensure it. Such means and tools to ensure energy security are determined individually taking into account the socioeconomic and political conditions, the geographical location, the condition of the energy industry development, and the energy interests of each particular state.
4 Due to that, the meaning of the notion of energy security, and, accordingly, the legal tools to ensure it, vary in energy resource importing countries (for example, the EU countries, including Germany), transit countries (for example, Ukraine and, partially, Poland), and exporting countries. Thus, while, from the economic point of view, energy resource importing countries are primarily interested in ensuring supply security, exporting countries associate energy security in many aspects with the demand security, i.e. the presence of sustainable demand in external markets for the energy resources exported. For transit countries, representing, in fact, the market intermediaries between the sellers and the buyers, both components are generally important. [1]
5 As the most commonly shared definition of the notion “energy security”, one can quote the one suggested by the International Energy Agency (hereinafter, the “IEA”), according to which energy security shall be understood as the availability of energy (energy resources) at an affordable price at any time. Along with that, the Agency differentiates between the long-term and the short-term energy security. The long-term energy security mainly deals with timely investment to ensure energy supply in accordance with the economic changes and environmental needs. The short-term energy security is focused on the ability of energy systems to respond promptly to sudden changes in the demand/supply balance. [2]
6 The definition of energy security suggested by the IEA reflects the prevailing worldwide approach to the understanding of energy security, and, in our opinion, can be deemed the basic one for the purposes of defining energy security in particular countries (subject to national specific features). [3]
7 European scientists in their research characterize the notion of energy security using not only the parameters of energy availability and affordability, but also those of acceptability and accessibility.[4] In his work, Sovacool substantiates the position that energy security should be considered in five dimensions: energy availability, affordability, efficiency and technology development, sustainability, governance and regulation.[5] Barton, Redgwell, Rønne, and Zillman define energy security as “such condition when the nation and all, or the majority of, its citizens and enterprises have the access to a sufficient amount of energy resources at acceptable prices for the foreseeable future period without serious risk of energy supply disruptions”. [6]
8 The national laws of some EU member states provide for legal definition of the notion “energy security”. Thus, in accordance with Clause 16, Article 3 of the Energy Law of the Republic of Poland, energy security is understood as “the condition of the economy which enables full coverage of the customer’s ongoing and prospective demand for fuels and energy in a technically and economically justified manner, with the observance of the environment protection requirements”. [7]
9 However, let us return to the basic definition of the notion “energy security” suggested by the IEA. In the definition, the energy availability in terms of physical availability and affordability is the key component. The second criterion (affordable price) is very important, particularly for Europe, where the issue of the populations’ energy poverty is becoming more topical with each year. [8]
10 Energy (energy resources) availability at any time is the key component of energy supply security traditionally understood as such condition of the energy industry when, in order to cover the existing need for energy, the physical and technical conditions are met at any time. Speaking in terms of economic categories, this means to satisfy fully the existing demand for energy during a particular period of time.
11 Thus, another important aspect should be distinguished as an energy security component immediately influencing energy supply security: the proper technical condition of the energy infrastructure and ensuring of the reliability of its functioning (including its accident-free operation and security).

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7. The Act of the Republic of Poland dd. April 10, 1997 The Energy Law (Ustawa z dnia 10 kwietnia 1997 r. Prawo energetyczne)//Dz.U.1997nr54poz.348.http://prawo.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU1997054034 
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10. E.g.: Brinchuk M.M. Energy Security and Environmental Law // Environmental Law.2007.№ 4. S. 10–11, Zankovskiy S.S. Energy Security of Russia: Legal Issues // Energy Law. 2006. № 2. S. 64–2006. № 2. S. 64-65), Romanova V.V. Problematic Aspects and Tasks of Legal Regulation of Energy Security // Energy Law Forum. 2017. № 3. S. 6–13.
11. Romanova V.V. Problematic Aspects and Tasks of Legal Regulation of Energy Security // Energy Law Forum. 2017. № 3. S. 6–13.

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