Security And The Energy End Game - EU Energy Ministers Meet - AFP

As the world's energy resources diminish ever more rapidly, the question of how to keep the lights on is rocketing up the political agenda to become one of the key international security issues of the age. British government and industry figures Monday delivered a blunt warning against the current trend towards national protectionism in the race to secure future energy supplies.

Calling for greater liberalization of domestic markets and increased international cooperation, they cautioned that the pursuit of narrow national interests would undermine energy security and result in international conflict. European energy ministers are to meet Thursday to discuss the content of the Common Energy Policy for Europe, nominally agreed at March's EU summit. But despite growing awareness of the need for a cohesive pan-European energy strategy, prompted largely by the Russia-Ukraine gas crisis in January, rows over national protectionism are threatening to scupper progress.

Speaking at a London meeting hosted by international affairs think tank the Foreign Policy Center, British Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said the Russian suspension of gas supplies to Ukraine during a row over prices -- with knock-on effects for several European nations -- had plunged the bloc into a crisis of confidence. "A shiver went down the energy spine of Europe," he said. "That has led to the reemergence of the idea of national security, national champions; it was a fright which we're still trying to think through."

While the European Commission -- the EU's executive agency -- is strongly in favor of liberalizing EU energy markets and developing a common energy grid, many European capitals are moving to create national champions to ward off international competition. Perhaps the most prominent example is the proposed merger of the French utility Suez and the state-owned Gaz de France, a deal brokered by Paris in order to fend off a potential hostile bid by Italy's Enel; however similar consolidation maneuvers are taking place across the continent.

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