UE: No Direct Lines to a Liberalized Market

The EU's liberalization of its energy market "may disrupt the entire system of gas security in the region," Gazprom deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev told the World Gas Conference in Amsterdam last year. His warning echoed long-standing complaints from Moscow that the introduction of competition into Europe's gas markets is undermining long-term supply contracts and encouraging new players whose only goal is to make a fast buck.

Other -- potentially less self-interested -- voices also question the central thrust of the European Union's grand project to stimulate competition in the energy sector at a time when security of supply is becoming a strategic concern.


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