Directives aplenty

摘要

Members of the EU possess approximately 0.6 per cent of the world's proven oil reserves, 2.0 per cent of the world's proven natural gas reserves, 4.0 per cent of proven coal reserves. At the same time, the EU has 18.0 per cent of the world's electric generating capacity. As a result, the EU is a net importer of energy. According to the European Commission, two-thirds of the EU's total energy requirements will be imported by 2020. Eurogas expects that the EU will import up to 75 per cent of its natural gas requirements by 2020, predominantly from Russia, Norway, Africa and the Middle East. This raises issues of security of energy supply. EU initiatives on energy have focused on three areas: supply security, market opening and environmental concerns.