Energy for Europe: economic and political implications

Book · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1977

OSTI ID:7317463

de Carmoy, G

The purpose of this book is to analyze the energy situation in Western Europe at present and over the next decade. The approach is interdisciplinary, and it is made at two levels. Economic and political considerations are intermingled in the decision-making process for energy policy. Decisions are reached sometimes by an individual state, sometimes after deliberation among several states. Power politics, if not in the forefront, is always in the background. The first chapter makes an evaluation of Western Europe's energy needs and resources in physical terms, comparing the present situation with forecasts for 1985. The second chapter discusses the European energy situation in money terms, and includes an analysis of the effects of rising energy prices on consumption, investments, trade, and payments, and of the role of OPEC as a price-fixing cartel. The third chapter describes the national energy policies of a number of European countries selected because of size, resources, and priorities. The fourth chapter assesses the structure and potentialities of energy industries in Western Europe. Can these industries, fragmented into small markets, make the most of Europe's limited domestic resources. Considerable imports of energy will be needed in the medium and long term, placing the nations of Western Europe in a position of asymmetrical interdependence in relation to their oil suppliers, expecially those in the Middle East, a zone of influence contested by the United States and the Soviet Union. The fifth chapter sets Western Europe's external supply policy in a broad geopolitical context, encompassing the strategies of the two super powers in an unstable area where Western Europe has practically no leverage.

• OSTI ID: 7317463
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
292000* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Supply
Demand & Forecasting
293000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Policy
Legislation
& Regulation
AGREEMENTS
COST
DECISION MAKING
DEMAND FACTORS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY POLICY
ENERGY SUPPLIES
EUROPE
FORECASTING
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
INVESTMENT
NORTH AMERICA
OPEC
USA
USSR