GERMAN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ENERGY POLICY: MOVING AWAY FROM A MARKET ECONOMY

Abstract

This article discusses the problems of the energy policy of the Federal Republic of Germany. The author argues that the current energy policy of the Federal Government of Germany differs from the policies of the course of previous governments in that its predecessors sought to promote various types of energy and technology with a view to overall economic development in order to increase welfare in Germany. The climate policy of the current Federal Government, on the contrary, is carried out to the detriment of social welfare, pursuing an unrealistic goal of saving the climate. The German federal government has committed or, in other words, set itself the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 40% by 2020, compared to the 1990 baseline, and by 80-95% by 2050. To this end, the German Renewable Energy Act was adopted on 1 April 2001. In the past, energy policy has focused on a triangle of the following goals: security of supply, environmental friendliness and economic efficiency, as well as a market economy. Although the opposite is stated today, in 2012, Germany’s energy policy went astray. Reliability of supply is reduced. Electricity prices in Germany are among the highest in the world, there is a tendency for their further growth. The author argues that, despite all efforts to save energy, the needs of Germany and Europe in gas will not decrease. In this regard, the Nord Stream - 2 (NS2) gas pipeline is extremely important.