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Tunnel with No Light: Entrapment and ‘Exit’ of V4 Countries’ Energy Transition

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From Economic to Energy Transition

Part of the book series: Energy, Climate and the Environment ((ECE))

Abstract

With the complex nature of the energy issue acknowledged, this chapter attempts to explain why the Visegrad countries chose to commit themselves to the EU-wide energy transition. Compared with Western European counterparts, the Visegrad countries are not only less prepared financially and technologically, but they perceive energy security differently, which, in turn, leads to divergent views on the energy transition. Nonetheless, due to the increasingly monetised and moralised energy issue, the Visegrad countries entrapped themselves by jumping on the bandwagon of energy transition. To avoid the otherwise ominous self-entrapment, the author suggests a micro-regional Visegrad formula. Putting more weight on energy coordination, the formula can help the Visegrad countries groping out the otherwise dark tunnel of transition.

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Acknowledgements

This research is facilitated by the China Scholar Council (No. 201708060001). I am grateful for the invaluable comments given by Matúš Mišík and Veronika Oravcová. Any flaws or errors are entirely my responsibility.

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  1. School of International Relations, University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK

    Pengfei Hou

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  1. Department of Political Science, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Matúš Mišík

  2. Department of Political Science, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Veronika Oravcová

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Hou, P. (2021). Tunnel with No Light: Entrapment and ‘Exit’ of V4 Countries’ Energy Transition. In: Mišík, M., Oravcová, V. (eds) From Economic to Energy Transition. Energy, Climate and the Environment. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55085-1_4

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