Risks of Expanding the Geographical Scope of EU Energy Law

摘要

In the pursuit of its energy policy objectives, the EU has endeavoured to extend the application of internal energy law to non-EU countries. Until now the application of EU law has focused on specific provisions of private law, but the latest proposals from the Commission have the intention to give EU energy law wider extraterritorial effect. The objective of this Article is to examine the risks that would entail from international law, if EU energy law is extended extraterritorially to non-EU countries. For one, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) establishes a number of rights to marine pipelines. More generally, the international trade rules of the WTO apply also to trade in energy goods and consequently create a number of rights and obligations. These aspects are discussed in relation to various territories that export natural gas to the EU via pipeline.