This book explores the timely topic of energy security and international relations between the European Union and the Russian Federation. Pursuing a constructivist-discursive approach, it empirically analyses a corpus of energy discourses involving policymakers and representatives of the EU and the Russian Federation. Exploring various discursive meanings assigned to the material and technical character of EU-Russian energy relations, the monograph underscores how the identities and interests of both parties are strongly affected by the norms and values which frame the individual energy discourses.

The Routledge Handbook of EU-Russia Relations offers a comprehensive overview of the changing dynamics in relations between the EU and Russia provided by leading experts in the field. Coherently organised into seven parts, the book provides a structure through which EU-Russia relations can be studied in a comprehensive yet manageable fashion. It provides readers with the tools to deliver critical analysis of this sometimes volatile and polarising relationship, so new events and facts can be conceptualised in an objective and critical manner. Informed by high-quality academic research and key bilateral data/statistics, it further brings scope, balance and depth, with chapters contributed by a range of experts from the EU, Russia and beyond. Chapters deal with a wide range of policy areas and issues that are highly topical and fundamental to understanding the continuing development of EU-Russia relations, such as political and security relations, economic relations, social relations and regional and global governance. The Routledge Handbook of EU-Russia Relations aims to promote dialogue between the different research agendas in EU-Russia relations, as well as between Russian and Western scholars and, hopefully, also between civil societies. As such, it will be an essential reference for scholars, students, researchers, policymakers and journalists interested and working in the fields of Russian politics/studies, EU studies/politics, European politics/studies, post-Communist/post-Soviet politics and international relations. The Routledge Handbook of EU-Russia Relations is part of a mini-series Europe in the World Handbooks examining EU-regional relations established by Professor Wei Shen.

Russia’s use of its vast energy resources for leverage against post-Soviet states such as Ukraine is widely recognized as a threat. Yet we cannot understand this danger without also understanding the opportunity that Russian energy represents. From corruption-related profits to transportation-fee income to subsidized prices, many within these states have benefited by participating in Russian energy exports. To understand Russian energy power in the region, it is necessary to look at the entire value chain—including production, processing, transportation, and marketing—and at the full spectrum of domestic and external actors involved, from Gazprom to regional oligarchs to European Union regulators. This book follows Russia’s three largest fossil-fuel exports—natural gas, oil, and coal—from production in Siberia through transportation via Ukraine to final use in Germany in order to understand the tension between energy as threat and as opportunity. Margarita M. Balmaceda reveals how this dynamic has been a key driver of political development in post-Soviet states in the period between independence in 1991 and Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. She analyzes how the physical characteristics of different types of energy, by shaping how they can be transported, distributed, and even stolen, affect how each is used—not only technically but also politically. Both a geopolitical travelogue of the journey of three fossil fuels across continents and an incisive analysis of technology’s role in fossil-fuel politics and economics, this book offers new ways of thinking about energy in Eurasia and beyond.

This books analyses how transnational gas markets have evolved and impacted on EU-Russia energy relations. It examines how the political conflict surrounding Ukraine has accelerated a negative interdependence in the region, with energy interdependence increasingly used as an instrument of diplomacy.

This book sheds new light on the complex EU-Russia relationship, by providing the first comprehensive account of the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue. The author examines why Moscow and Brussels have failed to cooperate in this crucial area of interdependence. By invoking constructivism and Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of dialogue, and drawing on dozens of interviews with Russian and European officials, Talseth argues that the Energy Dialogue was unsuccessful because its interlocutors failed to come up with a common narrative for cooperation. Evidence suggests that the collapse of the Energy Dialogue was not pre-determined and initially there was a great deal of optimism and goodwill. Ultimately, the outcome of the Energy Dialogue was shaped by the unfolding time-space of Russo-European relations.

EU-Russian energy dialogue represents a policy issue that forces us to take a serious look at several crucial questions related to the present and future of Europe such as: how can the EU area ensure its future energy security when it is running out of its own energy resources and at the same time incorporating new members who are also dependent on energy imports? This book not only outlines the overall characteristics of the energy dialogue, but also illustrates the involved policy implementation challenges by paying special attention to the regional context of northern Europe. The study contributes to diverse fields such as international relations and political science, European studies, studies on energy politics, international political economy, post-Soviet politics, and literature on regionalization and regionalisms, with a special reference to northern Europe.

The publication comprises 15 contributions by leading academics, lawyers and policy specialists offering a deep analysis of the relationship between Russia and the EU in the energy sphere. The political aspects of the EU-Russia relations are discussed by some of the leading practitioners and academics in the field. With Russia being the single most important energy supplier for the European Union, the security of supply issue inevitably hinges to a large extent on the complex relationship between Brussels and the Kremlin. The events following the most recent disruption of gas supply from Ukraine in 2009 is evidence of the fragile political interrelation between the EU and Russia and it is not surprising that speculation about the future of Russian energy supplies to the EU keeps growing. The publication is divided into 3 sections with various chapters: Section I : Political Energy Relations Between EU and Russia; Section II: Legal Aspects of EU - Russia Energy Relations; Section III: Changing the Rules for the EU Natural Gas Markets - From State to Market and Plan to Contract.

This book presents the main conclusions reached by the academic project "Geopolitics of Gas and the Future of the Euro-Russian Relations (Geo4GER)." This project is being developed at IPRI -- Portuguese Institute of International Relations, NOVA University, an academic research institute dedicated to advanced studies in Political Science and International Relations, of NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal. Energy security is a key issue on the international political agenda, a prerequisite for political stability and economic development and an indivisible part of a state's overall security. For Europe, the high-energy insufficiency is a major challenge, given its dependence on external sources, especially from Russia, the lack of diversification of energy sources, and the poor branch of its transmission network. For Russia, energy has been a geopolitical factor of power and a potential strategic vector to its re-emergence as a great power in the international system. However, in terms of energy, Russia also faces some long-term challenges, given the fall of its production and the low competitiveness of its gas, which is currently saved from the market where competition can hardly enter. Given this scenario, and also the increasingly important role in the political and strategic discussion of energy issues between Europe and Russia, it becomes relevant to diagnose the past and the present to forecast the medium and long term future (2030), taking into account the expected changes in the geopolitical and energetic environment, and the characteristics and dynamics of European-Russian relationship, including its energy interdependence and the energy policies and strategies outlined by Europe and Russia.

This Handbook provides the most comprehensive account of energy governance in Europe, examining both energy governance at the European level and the development of energy policy in 30 European countries. Authored by leading scholars, the first part of the book offers a broad overview of the topics of energy research, including theories of energy transitions, strategies and norms of energy policy, governance instruments in the field, and challenges of energy governance. In the second part, it examines the internal and external dimensions of energy governance in the European Union. The third part presents in-depth country studies, which investigate national trajectories of energy policy, including an analysis of the policy instruments and coordination mechanisms for energy transitions. It closes with a comparative analysis of national energy governance. This book is a definitive resource for scholars in energy and climate research as well as decision makers in national governments and EU institutions.

This book explains how the internal dynamics of transition have influenced the relationship between Russia and the EU. Taking an holistic approach, the authors present a balanced analysis exploring EU, Russian and US perspectives on the Russian-EU relationship and examine a range of political, economic, business and security issues including the Northern dimension of Russian-EU relations, the Chechen situation, Russian domestic economic policy, trade, the business environment, energy and EU technical assistance. They also address such questions as: * Will bilateral relations be achieved with a Western or Russian model? * Who is the main driver of Russian-EU relations? * Is Russia converging with the EU in terms of business, culture, legal environment and systems? * Does the Russian-EU link provide a new model for EU external relations?