This edited collection highlights the different meanings that have been
attached to the notion of energy security and how it is taken to refer
to different objects. Official policy definitions of energy security are
broadly similar across countries and emphasize the reliability and
affordability of access to sufficient energy resources for a community
to uphold its normal economic and social functions. However, perceptions
of energy security vary between states causing different actions to be
taken, both in international relations and in domestic politics.
Energy Security in Europe moves the policy debates on energy security
beyond a consideration of its seemingly objective nature. It also
provides a series of contributions that shed light on the conditions
under which similar material factors are met with very different energy
security policies and divergent discourses across Europe. Furthermore,
it problematizes established notions prevalent in energy security
studies, such as whether energy security is 'geopolitical', and an
element of high politics, or purely 'economic', and should be left for
the markets to regulate.
This book will be of particular relevance to students and academics in
the fields of energy studies and political science seeking to understand
the divergence in perspectives and understandings of energy security
challenges between EU member states and in multilateral relationships
between the EU as a whole.
