A divided Europe is the greatest risk to energy security

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine was a wake-up call to the EU to rethink its long terms climate and security strategy...," said Martin Vladimirov, an expert from the Center for the Study of Democracy.

Vladimirov explained in an exclusive interview at Enlit Europe 2022 that in the past nine months an energy security divide has been growing between grand European objectives of the Green Deal and national priorities, which have become increasingly centred on the preservation of the member state's own interests.

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"There is a disconnect between EU policies and member states' policies, leading to a tug of war," said Vladimirov, a situation that could see Europe spiralling into a return to coal and gas use.

He says it comes down to nationalists versus those who support solidarity, presenting a challenge to keep Europe on the same page.

Vladimirov said a lack of synchronised policies and bad governance is a great risk to Europe's energy landscape and successful private sector participation and it's key to mitigate this by increasing awareness of these risks and the potential fallout of not mitigating them.

"We need one policy instrument to name and shame countries to track progress on the EU objectives". This instrument does not exist right now, explained Vladimirov, allowing countries to hide behind other EU players and continue bad practices.

Het points at Italy and Germany as being the most vulnerable countries in Europe in terms of energy and climate security risk. "These two countries have single-handedly dragged the whole of Europe into a toxic dependence on Russian gas.

"If we had an instrument that could showcase in which direction countries are moving, we would have maybe been able to prevent the process from escalating and prevent the national tendencies to override the EU objectives."