With two-thirds of the world’s pipeline infrastructure traversing Europe, and the European Union (EU) importing over 50 percent of the energy
it consumes, Europe is a unique place to observe energy consumption,
production, and policy. A long history of conflict and dependence on
foreign energy has led the EU towards a new energy focus, which includes
reforming trade agreements, strengthening partnerships, and exploring
renewables.
Energy itself tends to be a critical tool throughout Europe
as a mechanism to achieve foreign policy goals. Examples of policy using energy can be proactive or reactive and involve both economic and political motivations.
The primary case of energy used to advance foreign policy comes from Russia’s Gazprom .
The state-owned energy company exports natural gas from Russia into
Eastern and Central Europe, often crossing numerous transit countries
before reaching the end consumer. Dozens of supply disruptions and price
increases over the last decade are correlated with political and
diplomatic friction in former Soviet States. Russia itself has leveraged
its infrastructure to bully governments by seeking to extract
behavioral modifications and continued dependency on Gazprom’s supply.
In some cases, the State owned company has literally manipulated the
flow of natural gas volume to other countries. Additionally, questions
have emerged whether volumes have been altered by other former Soviet
States through which natural gas must pass before reaching the country
of final destination. The policy goals sometimes pursued in intermediary
transit countries can also have consequences for Central Europe as
evidenced by unexplained downstream shortages. Recognizing the
disadvantages of continued dependence, the EU has begun to consider what
measures it may take to lessen reliance upon Russian energy.
Much of Russia’s policy is proactive: disrupting supply, raising
prices, or rerouting supply lines. On the other hand, recipients are
left to employ reactive foreign policy, purchasing natural gas from new
sources, reducing domestic consumption, or potentially taking actions to
placate Moscow.
In Central Europe, energy policies can be seen as either proactive or
reactive. After passing the 2009 Third Energy Package, the EU
restricted monopolistic energy practices and vertical integration.
Heralded at the time, the move signaled increasing competition in the
energy industry by preventing single companies from controlling every
step of the process. This boost in competition will ultimately help
reduce prices and stabilize supply, and will help prevent monopolies
such as Gazprom from expanding influence.
Actions like this can help to reduce energy dependence on Russia, or
any other foreign energy provider. While this is helpful, countries such
as Lithuania have taken more direct actions. For example, the recently
completed Klaipeda LNG import facility has resulted in better pricing
for the country. Poland is also exploring new options to expand its
supply. Despite knowing that consumers with supply choices are better
positioned, the marriage of european countries into the EU has not led
to increased integration of energy infrastructure or the ability to
share each member country’s domestic energy resources. Thus many EU
countries are no better prepared to diversify supplies than when
President Reagan warned against continuing Soviet dependency as early as
1981.
As a final way to reduce foreign involvement, European countries are
diversifying the sector with reducing demand through energy efficiency
programs, and by an increased focus on renewable energy. With respect to
renewables, the EU has already made strides in achieving its renewable
energy goals and is on track to meet its 2020 target of 20 percent
renewable energy consumption. With international discussions
increasingly focusing on climate change and energy consumption, European
States can lead the way on clean energy. With a foreign policy
objective of reducing global temperatures, establishing greener domestic
practices will put more weight behind European countries in discussions
within the EU and Europe as a whole.
Diversifying energy providers relies upon a need to increase
infrastructure connectivity and investment in renewables, while at the
same time reducing overall consumption through increased efficiencies.
In doing so, EU members will finally be positioned to move beyond Cold
War dependencies.
While not having all of the eggs in one basket seems simple enough to
understand, a common energy union has been certainly hindered by history
and aged infrastructure. Despite these challenges, Europe’s overall
energy future looks bright, thanks to the push given by Russia.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/brighammccown/2015/06/25/is-european-energy-sustainable/2/?ss=energy