ANALYSIS OF THE ENERGY SECURITY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE RELATED POLICY FRAMEWORK

The European Union (EU) is the third largest energy market on the planet following China and USA, consuming more than 1.6 million tons of oil equivalent, this fact determining the community's strength. Nevertheless, this strength is valid only in the case when the market is consolidated, therefore, the strategic goal of the community is to avoid splitting the EU's market into individual member states considering both the economic and political aspects, the force of which is considerably more reduced. This paper aims to comprehensively analyze the energy market of the European Union and determine the key weaknesses which threaten the community's security in this area. At the same time, it is presupposed to identify the key initiatives through which the European Union aspires to consolidate the energy market's integrity in the conditions of growing international competition and changing geopolitical environment. To reach these specific goals, a subset of objectives which are expected to be achieved by applying both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies has been selected. The results reached show that the European Union's efforts are insufficient to consolidate the energy market and deepen the integration, nevertheless, the proposed plans are promising, offering the community a favorable perspective.