EU funds and limited cooperation: energy infrastructure development in the Visegrad Group
EU funds and limited cooperation: energy infrastructure development in the Visegrad Group

Summary/Abstract: The paper analyses the development of energy infrastructure within the Visegrad Group. Improving interconnectivity has been considered key to solving energy security challenges and a way of preventing repetition of the 2009 gas crisis. Focusing on the natural gas sector, the paper claims that the European Union and its funds are crucial to the development of new energy infrastructure within the region. In addition to the EU’s financial instruments, its general support is important in incentivizing stakeholders in the region to improve interconnectivity. The paper focuses on the North–South Gas Interconnections in Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe, which is a priority corridor that transits all the Visegrad countries, and examines projects for improving interconnectivity between these countries. New infrastructure not only helps improve energy security but is the first step in developing an internal energy market dependent on the physical ability to transport natural gas across the Union.

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