Energy policy in the European Union1997

It is the crucial period from 1985 to 1995 which is Janne Haaland Matlary's central focus in this, the first comprehensive book-length study of EU energy policy. The book provides in-depth analysis of the attempt by the European Commission to develop a common energy policy, highlighting the key importance of both the Commission and the European Court of Justice in this area of policy. It focuses in detail on the role of the major states - Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom - and the main interest groups, as well as on the conflicts and compromises in the fierce political struggles over energy market liberalisation. In so doing it sheds new light on the changing role of the EU generally since the mid-1980s and highlights the limitations of narrow 'intergovernmentalist' theories of European integration and policy-making.