The EU and sub-regional multilateralism in Europe’s sea basins: Neighbourhood, Enlargement and Multilateral Cooperation. An FP7 collaborative research project (2009-2011) conducting an analysis of sub-regional multilateralism in the four maritime basins (Baltic, Black, Caspian and Mediterranean).
Ankara, January 2010. Energy and Transport Cooperation
"The importance of thinking the unthinkable in energy and transport issues"
The International seminar
on Energy and Transport Co-operation in Europe's four sea basins organized by
the Center of European Studies at the Middle East Technical University (CES-METU) was held in Ankara on January 21st and 22nd. The event was attended by numerous researchers and officials from sub-regional initiatives. Among which TRANSPORT CORRIDOR EUROPE-CAUCASUS-ASIA (TRACECA); Black Sea Economic Co-operation (BSEC) and sub-regional projects (Baltic Gateway, Transbaltic) took part for transport issues. The Observatoire Mediterranéen de l'Energie and the White Stream Consortium also participated.
Atila Eralp, director of CES-METU, stressed the necessity of understanding the problems in the 4 seas and fostering the channels of effective multilateralism in these regions. He also emphasized the diving effect of pipelines and transport routes rather than connecting the countries in the region.
Michele Villani, Head, Trade Economy and Agriculture section at the EU Delegation to Turkey drew attentioni to the interlinked relationship between climate change, energy supplies and energy security. He also emphasized the importance to act on climate change and the infrastructural problems in the 4 seas. As in the past projects as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan or Durran Farrell pipelines were visionary when they were planned, the EU needs", he added, "to think the unthinkable in energy and transport issues".
Energy
and transport both play a strategic role in the four seas on which we centre
our analysis: tensions between stakeholders often focus on the Baltic, the
Mediterranean, the Black and Caspian seas. All four areas are of great
importance for the EU and the routes, be they maritime or pipelines, through
which oil and gas travels from the producing to the consuming countries are
often the subject of tension.
identify the drivers for cooperation in energy and
transport issues
analyze the sub-regional dimension in energy
security management
evaluate the impact of the EU’s energy and transport
policies (programmes, projects, …) on
cooperation in the 4 sea basins
asssess the convergence/divergence of the EU’s
trategy with sub-regional approaches and demand for transport and energy issues
examine the political and regulatory aspects of
integration for renewable sources in sub-regional networks
present best practices and learnt lessons on
sub-regional cooperation
discuss the conclusions and
recommendations
Underlying problem in cooperation in the Four Seas
basins involves the persistence of old fashioned geo-political approaches. The
tradition of the European functionalist approach with sectorial competition,
complementarity and interdependence should be promoted as the most effective
approach to cooperation on the premise that cooperation is a basis for
integration. See seminar reports below for further information.
SUB-REGIONAL CO-OPERATION ON ENERGY in THE FOUR SEAS
Session 1: The 4 seas approaches to energy security
EU4SEAS_ energy_programme
