The Energy Policy of a Country in Transition

Poland, a country under market-oriented transition, has special problems with such spheres as the energy sector. Indispensable changes must be directed by energy policy compatible with the long-term concept of national development. The principal goals of the energy policy seem to be proportional to the national needs and aspirations related with the European Union. The situation is worse in the strategy of power sector's transition and functioning. Changes of the series of cabinets brought about changes in the concepts of restructuring and privatisation, as well as in the scope and pace of introducing competition, the latter being almost permanent problems of energy policy. A circumstance that explains but hardly justifies this state of affairs is an extremely complex configuration of conditionalities surrounding this policy, which the authors have tried to explain by pointing to problems of selecting solutions typical of the various conditionalities. The authors believe that in order to implement the clearly strategic goal of economic policy, that is, the reduction of power sector's costs and reaching a rational price levels combined with a better energy security especially in its economic and financial aspectsŠit is above all necessary to continue systemic transformation, all the time being guided by the interest of energy consumers, not its producers. This is our fundamental recommendation. We must stress that in this process, the special role of the state is providing good conditions for the emergence and operation of the market, also in fields which are not easy to reform. As regards the energy sector, this means that the government will continue its policy of consistent implementation of the priority to build competitive markets, prescribed by the Energy Act and the European Union Directives. The directions of energy policy, particularly the owner's policy, must be legible also for actors outside the energy sector, especially investors, so that they can use such a government document to plan the development of their own companies, make the required investment options, and conclude contracts which are good for them.