Search Result

Srl

Item

ID: 145776

Breakdown of the EU’s strategic partnership with Russia: from strategic patience towards a strategic failure / Schmidt-Felzmann, Anke

Schmidt-Felzmann, Anke	Journal Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Summary/Abstract

This article investigates the evolution of the European Union (EU)–Russia relationship to understand whether Russia’s violations of Ukraine’s territorial integrity in 2014 destroyed the EU–Russia strategic partnership. It uncovers fundamental differences in three key sectors—security, trade and energy—and regarding the broader design of their contractual relationship. Despite the appearance to the contrary, their relationship was never a well-functioning ‘partnership of choice’. Structural asymmetries contradictory approaches to and fundamentally different understandings of the role and utility of their relationship affected the EU–Russia relationship from the very beginning. The widening gaps were not addressed nor were the differences of the two actors acknowledged, let alone overcome. The confrontation over Ukraine was therefore not the cause but rather a symptom of deeply rooted problems. The blame for talking past each other and engaging in a marriage of convenience, rather than a real partnership, falls on both the EU and the Russian leadership.

Key Words

European Union ; Russia ; Strategic Patience ; EU Strategic Partnership ; Strategic Failure

In Basket

Export

ID: 106742

EU member states' energy relations with Russia: conflicting approaches to securing natural gas supplies / Schmidt-Felzmann, Anke

Schmidt-Felzmann, Anke	Journal Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Publication

2011.

Summary/Abstract

European Union (EU) member states' 'failure' to cooperate on energy policy towards Russia has been much criticised in the media and by policy analysts since the mid-2000s. This article analyses member states' choices to ensure domestic supply security by either increasing gas supplies from Russia or by reducing gas imports from Russia. The article seeks to explain why the member states pursue energy supply objectives towards Russia that are opposed by other member countries, despite the official commitment to acting 'in a spirit of solidarity'. It argues that the member states' choices are informed by their assessment of the geopolitical reality and its expected impact on their national energy supply security. This is, in turn, informed by their perceived vulnerability that stems from their geographic location, historical experience and bargaining position vis-à-vis Russia. The analysis shows that calls in the EU for 'solidarity' regarding the security of natural gas supply serve primarily as a cover for the pursuit of individual and not collective EU interests. The rhetoric of 'solidarity' and the need for cooperation in the EU also serves the European Commission's interest in acquiring a more important role in external energy policy.

Key Words

Energy ; European Union ; Russia ; Energy Policy ; Securing Natural Gas Supplies

In Basket

Export

ID: 106737

Geopolitics of energy supply in the wider Europe / Bosse, Giselle; Schmidt-Felzmann, Anke

Bosse, Giselle	Journal Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Publication

2011.

Key Words

Energy ; Energy Security ; Russia ; Europe ; Geopolitics of Energy Supply

In Basket

Export