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KİTAP TAHLİLLERİ / BOOK REVIEWS
Refia GÜLEN* EU Energy Law and Policy: A Critical Account
Kim Talus, Oxford University Press, New York, 2013, 295 Pages.
The book EU Energy Law and Policy: A Critical Account written by Kim Talus is an in-depth analysis of the European Union’s regulations regarding energy policy. With a strong background and extensive qualifications in the area of European energy law, Kim Talus examines many aspects of the issue.
Considering recent events such as the gas crisis between the EU and Rus-sia resultant of the latter’s annexation of Crimea, it is an undeniable fact that energy is one of the most significant fields of EU strategy. It is widely accepted that energy issues have huge impacts on politics, a reason why the author defines the energy industry as a “highly politicized strategic industry”. He also defines the area of energy as a “moving target” seeing that it is prone to shift over the short term. Furthermore, the importance of the book is epitomized in the author’s description of the energy sector as “the lifeblood of modern economies”.
The author mainly focuses on the development of general EU law and its application in the energy field. The book is systematically comprised of 8 chapters including the introduction and conclusion.
Following the introduction, which provides the sources of EU energy law and an overview of the book, the second chapter sees Talus discuss the his-tory of EU energy regulations. This chapter analyzes energy-related regula-tions of the EU that have taken place within the first three decades subsequent
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to 1957. Although the author describes the relevant legislation as toothless, it must be considered that they constitute the basis of current law. As stated by the author, legislation during this time constituted the first steps in forming an internal market in the field of energy, which is why their significance should not be ignored.
The second chapter becomes more meaningful when it is examined to-gether with the third chapter, which discusses the evolution of sectorial legis-lation. After mentioning general provisions on market economy such as “third party access”, “free movement” or “state aid”, the author goes on to criticize EU energy lawmaking, and points out that some might believe that coming to such decisions is not as easy and fast as in a unitary state, due to the EU’s su-pra-national structure. However, some weaker points of national economies, such as being slower in creating new competition areas, prove these criticisms to be based on incorrect assumptions.
The fourth chapter operates in a highly legal context where the author ap-plies many concepts of general treaty law to the energy sector. The essence of this approach may give the impression that the book will describe basic competition law and free movement concepts, however, as Talus indicated, the purpose of the book is to explain how these concepts are enforced in the energy sector.
The author mainly employed rulings of European Courts as the instruc-tive points. Even though this is one of the main requirements of legal analysis in a theoretical sense, the names and codes of cases complicate the flow of reading. Still it can be concluded that the provisions have actually been imple-mented, which is crucial for the functioning of a legal system. While examin-ing many economic concepts pertainexamin-ing to energy, he also states that there is a lack of much legal precedent in the realm of free movement. Hence, in order to solidify the basis of the discourse on free movement of energy, its inclusion in treaty law is a requirement.
This chapter also mentions the relation between the national laws of mem-ber states and the EU’s laws. What is striking here is that the book is writ-ten with a European frame of reference, therefore it is not descriptive of the member states’ legislation. However, this does not change the significance of member states’ legislation because only directly effective regulations which are precise, clear and unconditional have an effect at the national levels. Last-ly, a point emphasized by the author is the significant changes in application of general economic concepts, such as cartels, to the energy sector over the last
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The fifth chapter, regarding the environment, is of vital importance due to the 2020 targets of the EU. By 2020 the EU aims to produce 20 percent of its energy from renewable resources and increase energy efficiency by 20 percent. This objective requires the regulation of the sector to establish a competitive, well-functioning basis. If the field remains unregulated, as Talus states, renewable energy technologies may even have detrimental effects on the environment. Therefore, EU energy policies play a prominent role not only in regulating the market, but also in reducing the harmful effects of energy on the environment. In this chapter, the author divides the EU’s regulations into two, one of which is primary actions, where he emphasizes the point of en-ergy efficiency. The author makes plenty of references to many directives, thus bolstering the book’s credibility. Following his evaluation of various facets of energy, such as renewable energy, climate change, emissions and taxation, the author goes into detail on other measures –secondary actions- taken by the EU such as pollution control and procedural environmental protection.
As mentioned before, happenings in the environment have global effects and because of the strong ties between the energy sector and the environ-ment, the energy sector should also be analyzed in terms of international dy-namics. In the sixth chapter the energy sector is reviewed from an interna-tional perspective. While elucidating the internainterna-tional positions of EU energy policy, the author analyzes many international agreements. In his analysis he examines past drafts to make predictions on future policies, therefore helping to solidify the readers’ perspectives.
The seventh and eighth chapters approach the issue in terms of the chang-ing paradigms of economics, and with respect to the newly emergchang-ing actors in the international arena. The author divides the economic periods of the EU into two periods – the 1950s up through 1980, and post-1980 –, analyzing en-ergy policies within both stretches of time. While the first period was marked by a state dominated agenda, the post-1980 period is characterized by the ascendance of the EU as an actor in the international arena; this distinction is made clear through examples of regulations, such as legislative packages. That is to say, he analyzes several regulations and the degree of the states’ and the EU’s respective effects on them. He therefore concludes that the European Commission, the executive body of the EU, is swiftly emerging as a most in-fluential actor in energy policy.
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Lastly, owing to the author’s background and the issue’s depth, the lan-guage of the book can be considered very complex. The ample use legal and economic jargon is at times difficult to follow, however, the author’s method-ology of law and language is commendable. It seems that those with a back-ground in law and the EU are the targeted readers, so the book’s formal lan-guage is appropriate for the intended audience. Additionally, one should keep in mind that the book was written in 2013, when the EU had 27 members, whereas today it has 28 members.
Finally, the book discusses EU energy policy in an analytical fashion by smoothly incorporating a legal framework. Since the energy sector –especial-ly in recent years– holds great importance for all the member states as well as the EU at large, and considering that the EU itself has a strong impact on world politics, EU legislation regarding energy has a dynamic character. Talus, recognizing this dynamic nature of the field, provides valuable insight into the topic that could be helpful for academicians who are interested in EU energy policies as well as for policy makers, aiding them in seeing the evolution of the energy debate from a legal prism. One of the handicaps of the book is its over-whelming use of legal concepts and cases. From time to time this causes the reader to lose his/her focus, but it also help Talus to root his arguments in the practical base of the debate as well. In this regard, this book primarily targets an audience of readers who have good command of energy concepts and are also interested in the legal framework of energy policies of the EU.
