European gas supply — national and community competences

Abstract

Ensuring energy continuity is a key priority for all nations in Europe and for the European Union, too.In the nearly 70 years, since the EU was founded, the institutional set-up and membership has grownconsiderably. We think it is important to identify what has happened during this time in the provisionsof the additional treaties of what started out as primarily an energy community (ESZAK, EURATOM)and where do we stand now in terms of energy competences? The aim of this paper is to contextualiseand clarify the scope of the EU legislation in force in 2021, the scope of the Community's decisionmakingpowers in gas procurement policy, and the role of the EU institutions in shaping Communitypolicies. We also aim to separate the competences by providing a historical overview that shows in alinear way the evolution of gas policy and the general direction of the development of the relevantacquis, based on the treaties adopted since 1952.