Sharing Energy as Part of the Sharing Economy? New Developments in the EU Energy Transition: Legal Analysis

Abstract

The global and European energy markets are changing profoundly before our eyes. The European Union (EU), wishing to achieve energy independence soon, including independence from fuel supplies, is turning its attention to renewable energy sources. It is no longer only important to achieve a high level of use of renewable energy sources, but also to maintain local energy security by supporting local energy production from renewable sources at the level of individual EU Member States. This is taking place in very different directions and through various support tools. The sharing energy phenomenon also finds support today on the regulatory side in EU law. Amongst others, there is Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal market in electricity, which provide for forms of decentralised energy market and certain forms of community energy in the form of electricity prosumers and various types of energy communities. The basic research question addressed in this study is - how does the sharing energy phenomenon fit into the broader sharing economy phenomenon today? It also asks in what way does EU regulation currently support the development of the sharing energy phenomenon? The research area in this paper is narrowed down to EU law also includes references to Polish law.