Suchergebnisse

The EU external energy policy has triggered heated debate among policymakers, regulators, academia and industrial stakeholders over recent decades. This article maintains that the gas sector has been of less interest to all these parties, because of its inertia and relative backwardness, compared to the electricity and renewable energy industries. However, since the Russia-Ukraine gas disputes, matters related to Euro-Mediterranean gas cooperation are back at the forefront of the energy agenda. The ever-changing nature of the EU external energy policy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is analysed in this paper by looking at the influence that EU economic interests and approach have had on the southern neighbourhood. The paper provides an overview of the political economy of gas industry development in the EU and its relationship with exporting countries in the Mediterranean basin. It further explores how EU actions and influence as rule promoter are able to provide a valid template for the emerging regulatory framework in the region. While the changing relationship with its southern neighbourhood can be described as part of the process of progressive securitization of energy matters, EU influence can hardly be described as the focal point of gas dynamics in the Mediterranean region. Member States' gas policies appear to have a greater traction, in consideration also of their vast and long term economic commitments. ; Funded by the European Research Council (ERC) within the 7th Framework Programme, the BORDERLANDS project is hosted at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, and directed by Professor Raffaella A. Del Sarto.

AbstractThis article offers the first comprehensive analysis of the emergent modes for greening electricity governance through agencification in the Global South by examining the drivers and role of renewable energy agencies (REAs) in various countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. Furthermore, the article illustrates the impact of this form of agencification on the deployment of renewables and the "democratization" of energy governance. We found that the diffusion of REAs is facilitated by the intermediation of international and transnational actors, whereas their role in national energy governance is constrained by the fossil fuels rentier political economy. As an institutional strategy for greening energy governance, agencification has the potential to foster the deployment of renewables: agencies can catalyze external funding overcoming regulatory and policy barriers. However, this strategy can reproduce top‐down approaches to policymaking, hindering the "democratic" potentials of the energy transition.

Regulation & Investments in Energy Markets: Solutions for the Mediterranean presents the status of advancement and maturity of the Mediterranean energy policy, identifying patterns of development as well as lessons learned. Mediterranean countries are facing unprecedented challenges in the energy sector which affect the entire region. Energy policy and regulation is the key to tackling energy efficiency challenges, and providing favorable conditions for engineering infrastructures, investments, and improving security of energy supply. The assumption that the normative model, on which the EC energy policy is based, could be adopted outside EU boundaries has proven to be difficult to implement. This book looks at the Mediterranean regions search for a revised model for regulatory convergence and provides answers to those research questions, allowing the reader to understand the different technical, institutional, and financial frameworks for energy policy.