A Political Economy Approach to the European Union Gas Model: Continuities and Changes

Abstract:

The European Union gas model worked steadily for nearly four decades: since the time that gas first emerged as an important resource in European energy demand. However, since the late 1990s this stability has been disrupted by a number of factors. The EU reform agenda has been the most important of these. Following a structural-conduct-performance plan, the European Commission has forced changes on players, scenarios and exchange mechanisms through legislative action in order to build a new energy model based on those operating in the United States and the United Kingdom. The main point of this article is that despite these actions, many features of the traditional model have been modified but not removed, and many changes have not brought the results initially expected. These results are mainly due to the fact that the power relations among the main players of the pre-reform model are still in place.