Specifics of the Attitude of France and Germany towards the European Energy Policy in 2015-2023

Although nowadays the European Union represents an example of the most successful implementation of the idea of political and economic integration, there is still room for improvement, especially in the energy sphere, where the development of the EU’s internal competitive and sustainable energy market is needed. To provide an incentive for the unification and harmonization of energy laws of all the member states, the European Commission introduced in 2015 the Energy Union Package, which might be a new step towards a common European energy policy. Nevertheless, the reluctance of some leading European countries, such as Germany and France, to transfer their authority in the energy sphere to the EU institutions poses a problem to the future of this integration initiative. As previous studies on the EU energy policy have left several questions regarding the influence of state-level factors on the adoption of pan-European initiatives unanswered, the primary purpose of this proposal is to analyze and compare attitudes of France and Germany to the European energy policy over the period 2015–2023, considering social and political issues in both countries. Moreover, the inexpensive Russian energy carriers’ rejection, driven by the tightened sanctions policy against Russia after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine in 2022, has engendered an energy crisis in the EU. This development highlights the urgency of the topic. The research will be based on primary data, including international agreements, Directives, Conclusions, and Communications of the EU institutions, coalition agreements, party programs.