Abstract
After a risk in the supply of energy from Russia again this winter, strong voices claimed the necessity of a European common foreign energy security policy. However, once the crisis resolved, and the cold weather wore off, the idea was left aside, at least by the Media. The EU energy policy is a subject that keeps surfacing intermittently, like climate change or liberalization of energy markets, but nothing concrete seems to be implemented towards creating a common energy security policy. However, even if Javier Solana is desperately clear when he states that there is "no common foreign energy policy", some elements show that the EU is not inexistent in this field. On the 11th of April, the Commission presented plans to forge stronger ties with its energy-rich neighbors around the Black Sea and to bring stability to the region. Within the neighborhood policy proposal, there is one chapter on energy, mentioning the EU's external energy security strategy. On the 3rd of April, 5 southern European countries, including 3 EU Member States, and the Commission signed a declaration to build a pipeline to bring oil from the Black Sea to central European markets by 2012. A contradiction thus emerges. While there is no reference to energy policy in the treaties, and no text about energy security in the framework of CFSP, the EU, via the Commission acts in the field of energy security too.
