The World in 2030

172 The World in 2030
of European energy supplies as only a flexible and open
internal market – ready both to import and export power
at a moment’s notice – can weather the vagaries of the
international energy market.
Yet despite the apparently obvious benefits of an open
and deregulated energy market across the European Union,
the Commission is struggling against real opposition from
the governments of its member states. As The Economist
reported in April 2007:
The European Commission has been urging EU
members to break up their vertically integrated energy
companies, but France and Germany are resisting.
The problem, says the commission, is that national
governments do not understand the link between liberalisation
and greater energy security. ‘New member
states equate security with nationalism. But the only
alternative to integration is isolation,’ says one senior
EU official. 328
The EU Commission also plans to meet the need for a hugely
increased energy demand whilst aiming to reduce overall
carbon emission by 30 per cent by 2030. Energy officials in
the Commission are certain that this can be done.
‘We have to educate the public about energy conservation
and we have to reorganise the distribution system for
electricity within Europe,’ a senior energy official in the
Commission told me. ‘Power generation must move closer
to the point of consumption to reduce waste. We also have
to make the consumers aware of the real cost of energy.’