The multi-speed energy transition in Europe: Opportunities and challenges for EU energy security

The transition towards renewable energy is progressing at different speeds among EU member states. This trend reflects their divergent national energy security interests and leads to different energy (foreign) policy strategies within the Energy Union context. This policy perspective highlights how a multi-speed energy transition among EU Member States affects European energy relations and energy security and explores what the European Commission (EC) can do to safeguard the Energy Union. We argue that divergent energy security perceptions and priorities among EU Member States essentially create two clusters of countries: those that focus on renewable energy, considering it an industrial opportunity and a way to lower import dependence, and those that prioritize reliable supplies and perceive renewables as too volatile and expensive to replace fossil fuels. We then contemplate the energy security implications of the two emerging Europes and discuss several ways these could shape their mutual interactions. Finally, we suggest incorporating an industrial component next to the internal market and common external voice dimensions of the Energy Union, in the form of a package deal, so that the EC might overcome political tensions between the two clusters.