Towards a European External Energy Policy : Interest Divergence between EU Member States as an Obstacle to a Common Policy

The purpose of this paper is to find out which obstacles exist in the EU on the level of the Member States for the development of a Common European External Energy Policy. Using the example of the Nord Stream pipeline project the diverging interests of four countries are studied and analyzed to show what the different interests mean for a common policy. The paper argues that not only economic interests but to a high degree the securitization of energy policy and historical experiences play an important role and make it difficult to develop a common policy. Moreover it is shown that Liberal Intergovernmentalism can to a certain degree explain non-integration in the European Union.