European Union, Mediterranean region and energy issue
Résumé
The energy issue is an essential factor of economic development. Moreover, since the World War II, it is one of the bases of European Union political genesis. Nowadays, the debate about the cooperation process between European Union and Mediterranean countries is partly focused on the energy issue. On the one hand, European energy dependency is raising, on the other hand, most of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries are economically dependent on their hydrocarbon exports. In this context, a new European energy policy emerged in the 90's structured by three main principles: - energy dependency requires to diversify the geographic origins of the energy imports; - renewable energies have to be developed due to the environmental issue and to the increasing prices of fossil fuels; - create an European energy market, which could become an Euro-Mediterranean one. These elements lead to the emergence of a new cooperation between Europe and the other Mediterranean countries. The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership project launched in 2007 could be a political framework able to facilitate this new form of governance. Energy issue is a pertinent thematic to analyse territorial coherence and stakes of sustainable development in the Euro-Mediterranean region. In the first part, we will demonstrate the historical role of energy issue in European Union emergence. In the second part, we will present European initiatives in energy area which tend to include the other Mediterranean countries. Finally, we will discuss about energy stakes in the region and territorial differences between northern and southern coasts
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