Poland’s energy security in the context of the EU’s common energy policy. The case of the gas sector

The concept of energy security can be rather difficult to precisely define. In fact, the scope of energy security includes a somewhat different set of issues in the gas sector than in the electricity sector. After all, electricity can be produced in every country of the European Union, but gas extraction is possible only in some. Natural gas is a commodity which constitutes a significant component of the export policy of only a few countries. As a result, the scarcity of gas in the EU makes it a very desirable resource for many countries, some of which are taking important energy-related decisions without consulting or assessing their impact on other Member States. This hampers the coordination of energy policy and the setting of common objectives with regard to energy security for the EU as a whole. The lack of cooperation among Member States has a clearly more negative impact on Poland and the other new Member States (which depend on a single gas supplier) than on the old EU-15, whose gas supply is generally well diversified. Moreover, the lack of proper infrastructure and cross-border connections puts in question the creation of a solid energy policy at the EU level in the gas sector.