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The EU and Central Asia: commercialising the energy relationship
22/07/2009 By Michael Denison
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The European Union (EU) wants to establish a commercial energy relationship with Central Asia. Making this strategic objective a reality is a complex and challenging undertaking. Although the prize is considerable given the region’s abundant reserves of oil and gas, the constraints are equally daunting. The principle underpinning the EU’s energy outreach towards Central Asia is based on self-interest and focused on gas.
The objective is to diversify supplies in order to reduce the dependence of EU member states on gas supplies from Russia. The broad assumption in this paper is that a southern corridor strategy encompassing Central Asia is still somewhat speculative but nevertheless worth pursuing, bringing as it does tangible benefits to both regions and to connecting transit states.
However, the EU has to decide how it can square its ambitions to be a normative foreign policy actor while dealing on a commercial basis with states such as Turkmenistan where there are substantial deficits in the observance of human rights.
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Keywords
Central Asia and Russia Democratisation Energy diversification Energy Security Energy Supply EU European Union Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan UzbekistanRelated publications
- Business and trade relationships between the EU and Central Asia
- Central Asia and the global economic crisis
Bio author: Michael Denison
Research Director at Control Risks, a leading international business consultancy
