Third Time Lucky? Euro-Mediterranean Energy Co-operation under the Union for the Mediterranean

Abstract

Energy co-operation has appeared as a priority area on the EU's Mediterranean policy agenda since the promulgation of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) in 1995. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) has pledged to do more than previous policy frameworks in the area of energy co-operation, and has specifically identified renewable, particularly solar, energy as a possible catalyst. This study aims to assess the prospects for Euro-Mediterranean energy co-operation within the framework of the UfM. To this end, it will examine the reasons behind the failure of both the EMP and the ENP to achieve meaningful progress in their equally sanguine enunciated policy objectives in this area, comparing their respective approaches with that of the UfM. It will be argued that the prospects for Euro-Mediterranean energy co-operation under the UfM will hinge more on the shifting priorities of European consumers and SMC producers, informed in particular by concerns over climate change, the need to diversify sources of primary energy supply and the depletion of proven conventional fossil fuel reserves, than on the attributes of the UfM per se.