Title: Europe's Strategic Dependence on Russian Energy | The Heritage Foundation
Headings: Europe's Strategic Dependence on Russian Energy
Europe's Strategic Dependence on Russian Energy
Ariel Cohen
Director, CENRG and Senior Fellow, IAGS
Energy Dependence on Russia
Implications for European Energy Security
Policy Implications for the United States
Authors
Ariel Cohen
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Content: Despite British Prime Minister Tony Blair's call for a common European energy policy in an October 2005 speech to the European Parliament, [1] European countries have rushed to secure their own energy interests in lieu of a more coordinated approach. In the spring and summer of 2007, Austria, Italy, and Hungary negotiated separate deals with the Russian energy giant Gazprom. These deals may undermine the EU's Nabucco project, which aims to bring Caspian gas to the heart of Europe via Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and into Austria. On paper, the European Union is invested in energy security. At the 2007 spring summit in Brussels, EU members outlined an action plan on energy security for 2007-2009. First, to ensure security of supply, the EU needs to "diversif [y]…energy sources and transport routes, and better systems for responding to crises." [ 2] Second, the EU should promote international energy policy by "negotiating a new treaty framework for energy co-operation with Russia, and improving relations with energy-rich countries in Central Asia and North Africa." The EU also proclaims that it wants to improve its ability to manage supply crises, to expand the energy grid connecting European countries, and to improve the functioning of the internal energy market. [ 3]
In practice, some European countries depend heavily on energy imports and are highly vulnerable to global energy shocks. The EU is the world's largest importer of oil and gas.