Samuel R. Schubert

Energy policy of the European Union

Introduction 1. The EUs Energy Portfolio 2. Principles of Energy, End Uses and the Global Energy Balance 3. The Changing Nature of EU Energy Policy: Theory and Milestones 4. Who Does What? The Main Actors 5. Building a Common Internal Energy Market 6. Climate Change, Energy Efficiency, and the Quest to Expand the Use of Renewable Energy Sources 7. External Energy Politics 8. Policy Challenges on the Horizon 9. References

Lessons for European Autonomy in Space from Past Pursuits of Energy Autonomy

To what extent is autonomy achievable in space policy and for that matter what can autonomy mean in an age of globalization? Decades of experience and billions worth of investments by both Europe and the USA in the energy domain provide some valuable insights to these questions. Perhaps, the most important among them is that while autonomy is ideally achievable, it also is expensive, politically risky, and hardly guaranteed. Should the EU pursue autonomy in space or should it rather seek increased degrees of interdependence? While there are manifest benefits in choosing the former, such as uninhibited access to earth orbits and enhanced and independent sources of communication, the costs associated with such a path may be prohibitive. Indeed, one must ask whether the gains outweigh the costs of investment or for that matter whether the EU can collectively afford it in the first place. If instead Europe chooses to seek enhanced interdependence, with which countries should it cooperate and how will it address the resulting vulnerabilities that may inhibit and even thwart progress? This chapter examines some of the lessons we can learn from states’ pursuit of energy autonomy and how those lessons can be applied to better understand the risks and opportunities for Europe’s decisions about its space program.

The Rolls-Royce of Cooperation Models

“I think the one thing that you can learn from the Rolls-Royce UTC model is that it’s about the time that the company is putting in. Giving us a contract and then turning up every three months and saying: Where’s my stuff? just isn’t going to work. It’s all about keeping people in the university as part of the team, keeping some involvement, and, actually it sounds strange, but growing a lot of loyalty to that company. And that doesn’t come easily. When it is there, that is when researchers will go the extra mile.”

The Spinout Specialists

“Good academics never really trust anybody else because everything is connected to their personal reputation and publishing profile. They never allow other people to do things without checking it 15 times, and when they do finally delegate a task and somebody returns with the results, they question them, and, as I think of it in a business context, become completely incapable of working in a team.”