Energy and Environmental Policies Sample Clauses

Energy and Environmental Policies. Likewise in competition policy, the internal market objective has played a role in EU energy policy since the 1980s and the Single European Act.19 There, the EU policies centered highly around the idea of one single European market, also for energy. Until then, energy markets were national and natural monopolies, for which positive action abolishing the barriers to competition was required.20 In earlier stages of EU energy regulation, from the establishing of EU internal electricity markets in 1989 until the introduction of the Third Energy Package21 in 2007, energy policy primarily focused on these economic objectives and liberalization of the energy markets.22 However, since the Third Energy Package and thus new legislation, EU energy policy also started to focus on the non-economic objectives and integrated environmental policy into EU energy policy.23 The main goal of environmental policy, to limit the harmful effects of production or consumption on the environment, achieved through means such as sustainable energy production,24 was added to the EU energy policy. Since the Treaty of Lisbon, EU energy policy has its basis in Art. 194 TFEU, listing the main objectives: ensuring the functioning of the energy market; ensuring the security of supply; promoting