CIAO DATE: 04/2008
Volume: 3, Issue: 4
September 2007
A Non-Implicit Luxury. What 'Energy Security' Really Means (PDF)
Václav Bartuška
The developed world lives in comfort, having sufficient electricity, heat and fuel. However, the other four fifths of humanity live either without electricity altogether (almost half of the developing world), or with an irregular electrical power supply. The EU and in fact the entire West have to realize that current comfortable quality of life is unsupportable unless new technologies replace fossil fuels in the nearest decades. Without new sources of electricity (non-coal based) and new types of propulsion (non-oil based) the Western countries will be faced with a simple dilemma: either they will increase the efficiency of their economies (in order to import ever more expensive fossil fuels), or they will have to let go of their requirements necessary for an adequate lifestyle.
How to Enhance Security of Natural Gas Supply in Slovakia (PDF)
Ján Klepáč
Europe is becoming increasingly dependent on imported hydrocarbons. The EU's energy import dependence will jump from 50% of total EU energy consumption today to 65% in 2030. What should Slovakia, which is is nearly 100% dependent on the import of Russian gas, do in order to improve its natural gas supply portfolio and increase security of supply? This paper gives a qualified opinion on these matters and simultaneous recommendations on the strategy Slovak policy makers should adopt. In addition, the possibilities related to increasing security of natural gas supply analyzed in this paper present also a challenge in the light of the common European energy policy.
EU Internal Energy Market Reforms (PDF)
Vladimír Benč
The main aim of this article is to point out the current problems and challenges the EU faces in formulating a common energy policy and evaluate the individual reform proposals of the European Commission. One of the cornerstones of this policy rests in the development of the EU internal energy market, where many of the EC proposals are met with numerous restrictions on the part of individual member states as well as the organizations themselves (entrepreneurs, citizens, interest groups and other entities) and where many of the current proposals threaten the energy security of the EU as well as its competitiveness. It is obvious that today the EU cannot provide individual member states with energy security as well as it is obvious that the EU internal energy market is not finalized and consolidated. Measures adopted by the EC so far have not yet produced the desired outcomes, be it in the sphere of energy prices or in the sphere of increasing competitiveness. In the first part of the text the author defines the challenges the EU faces from the point of view of energy security. In the second part of the text the author describes the most important reform proposals of the EC and analyzes their potential impact and possible threats they may pose to the competitiveness and energy security of EU member states. In the third part of the text the author analyzes the environmental aspects of the developing EU energy policy and their potential impact on individual member states and particular entities. In the conclusion the author evaluates the interests of Slovakia in his view of the common energy policy and the EU internal energy market.
Photovoltaic Solar Energy: Key to a Sustainable Energy Future (PDF)
Martina Semanová, Zuzana Voderadská, Miroslav Zeman, Jimmy Melskens
The paper shortly describes the global situation regarding climate change and energy sources and consumption. Thereafter, authors give a couple of examples of successful approaches to implement renewable energy sources in the world and compare them to the situation in Slovakia. The overview of EU and Slovak legislation that can facilitate the implementation of renewable energies is also presented. Finally, the piece provides the recommendations for accelerating the development and implementation of renewable and photovoltaic energy sources in particular in Slovakia.
Democracy in the New Member States: Between Equality and Diversity (PDF)
Paul Blokker
The new member states are allegedly converging to some common European standard. They are, however, equally subject to differentiation, in particular in terms of political and cultural diversity. The paper first focuses on multiple forms of cultural diversity that have gained significance in the post-communist era. Subsequently, a number of normative approaches to democracy in the European setting are reviewed in order to assess to what extent these recognize and engage with diversity. In the concluding section, it is argued that such approaches are unsatisfactory and that instead a more pluralized approach seems possible.
Letter to Editor: EU Common Energy Policy and the Energy Security of Slovakia (PDF)
Roman Schoenwiesner
Juraj Buzalka
Rebecca Murray
Ivo Samson