International energy consultancy company FGE's energy market expert, Cüneyt Kazokoğlu, has said that the establishment of an energy union in the EU would remove the country's ability to determine their own energy policies, thus ruining Russia's chance to sign separate deals with European countries.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Kazokoğlu said the energy union would mean that the control of energy policy would be in Brussels, and added that various steps such as the standardization of energy transmission lines and smooth energy transfer between countries would mean a more productive and economic energy use in Europe. Kazokoğlu underlined that it would become easier to overcome energy cuts and that the most important aspect of the energy union is for the EU's energy policies to become independent from Russia.
"However, the energy union will also cause a lot of problems, as while Germany is closing its nuclear plants, France needs nuclear energy, at least in the medium term. Therefore, Brussels needs to create an energy policy that can be applied throughout the EU, which would take a lot of time. Furthermore, many European firms or countries have long-term gas purchase deals with Russia, and they have to wait for such deals to expire," added Kazokoğlu. Berlin Applied Sciences University's Professor Vole Quaschning said that it would be "very hard" to implement a policy according to the benefits and aims of each country, and also underlined the importance of Germany on the EU's decision making.
The Assistant Chairman of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic has announced five major agenda items for research and innovation of the energy union on Feb. 25. The agenda items are the safety of energy supply, transparent common energy market, energy efficiency and decreasing carbon emissions.
