Negotiating at cross purposes: conflicts and continuity in the EU’s trade and energy relations with Russia, pre- and post-2014

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article explores why the European Union (EU)’s promotion of Russia’s market liberalization has failed to generate the desired outcome. It takes as its starting point the Russian annexation of Crimea, and the question of whether the political rupture in 2014 constitutes a watershed in the EU-Russian trade and energy relationship. The sanctions targeting Russia for its actions in Ukraine, and the Russian counter-embargo, constrain the room for manoeuvre of businesses, but have not resulted in a decisive shift in the EU-Russian trade and energy relationship. The article finds that very limited progress had been made on key contentious issues throughout the decade preceding the breakdown of their political relations. Rather, the main shift took place with Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2012, which provided the EU with tools of compellence. The EU’s market policies have achieved very little resonance in Russia of their own accord.