The purpose of this book is twofold. First, it aims to explain the general framework for cooperation in the energy sector in Europe, with a conceptual basis that allows for a better understanding of the dynamics that led to its existence. Second, the volume deals with Romania both as a representative case for the region, given the commonalities raised by the transition process in the last three decades, and also as a country with a specific energy agenda, with implications for internal and foreign policy that can only be perceived and understood in the Romanian context.
This book aims to explain the general framework for cooperation in the field of energy in Europe. It also deals with Romania both as a representative case for the region, given the commonalities raised by the transition process in the last three decades, and also as a country with a specific agenda in the field of energy.
The Palgrave Handbook of Zero-Carbon Energy Systems and Energy Transitions provides a comprehensive and authoritative source of information, analysis and recommendations on the multi- and inter-disciplinary subject of zero carbon energy systems. The Handbook will advance thinking and research underlying the on-going energy transition by; covering a wide range of energy technologies and sources (e.g. fossil fuels, renewables, low carbon energy) including investigating the potential of new and alternative technologies and fuel sources and looking at the power, heating/cooling and transport sectors; Looking at varied legal jurisdictions and governance approaches including developing and developed countries and investigating potential new approaches to achieving a zero carbon energy system; Providing a broad range of theoretical and methodological approaches from a range of disciplines; Inclusion of a global range of case studies from Africa, Arctic, Asia, Australasia, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas (Central, North and South) and the Pacific, from the international, national, sub-national to city/community level.
This book attempts to conceptualise EU action in the field of regional security. Drawing on constructivist theory, the framework of the book focuses on the meeting - or 'interface' - of actors, a situation reflecting the mutual construction of self, other and situation. The analytical framework applied here to European security politics is potentially open-ended as the theoretical logic that informs the framework is general and abstract in character, and not limited to state actors in an international setting. The empirical aim of this book is to further our understanding of the EU as a security actor in a regional perspective. The book thus links International Relations scholarship with that of EU studies. By analyzing a number of different interfaces (such as with Russia, the US, and other states), we can learn more about the circumstances and preconditions and with what resources and power the EU acts in a regional security setting. This book will be of great interest to students of European security, EU policy, IR theory and security studies in general. Rikard Bengtsson is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Lund University, Sweden. He has a PhD in Political Science, from Lund University, Sweden.
The purpose of this book is to move beyond the approach which views energy as a purely geopolitical tool of the Russian state and assumes a 'one size fits all' approach to energy security in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It argues that in order to fully understand Russian involvement in the regional energy complex, the CEE-Russian energy relationship should be analysed in the context of the political and economic transitions that Russia and the CEE states underwent. The chapters on individual countries in the book demonstrate that, although Russia has and will continue to play a substantial role in the CEE energy sector, the scope of its possible influence has been overstated.
This book arrives at a very significant time throughout Europe. Not only is the European Union currently facing a prolonged economic and social crisis, with nascent political consequences, such as the ascension of populist parties in the 2014 European elections, but also its Eastern neighbourhood is confronted with the growing hostility of an assertive Russia, opposing any new advance of the West towards its frontiers. Bringing together experts in fields such as international relations, political science, political sociology, diplomacy, security studies, and European studies, with robust academic and professional backgrounds and expertise with regard to the region, this volume explores this significant “window of opportunity”, and will undoubtedly appeal to a global audience. The considerable diversity of approaches and styles here allows a multidimensional diagnosis and analysis of present-day Eastern Europe. This volume defines a series of major regional opportunities, vulnerabilities and dilemmas, and explores the complex perspectives of the “new Eastern Europe”, located between the European Union and Russia, under its current name of the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood, along with the tensions and challenges of a possible second Cold War.
This book analyses the rapidly unfolding events that have impacted on the European energy dynamics, in the light of the way in Ukraine and the energy crisis that have reconfigured, since 2022, the European and the global geopolitical scene, dislocating not only crucial natural resources but also the pace of the energy transition and the continent’s existential security, its basic trust and sense of continuity. It introduces an innovative interpretation of the conflict and cooperation dynamics in Europe, by challenging the reader to look beyond the material aspects of energy security, related to supply and demand, consumption, production and prices dynamics, which I nonetheless explain in detail. Thus, it invites the audience to explore the deeper layer of motivations that underpin the actors’ decision to engage in conflict and cooperation, by exploring their cognitive and psychological considerations, in addition to the material ones. For this purpose, it presents a new conceptual tool, the conflict-cooperation perpetuum, in order to explain why the same players, in this case the EU, Russia and Turkey, may choose to simultaneously perceive each other as security threats and trade partners, engaging in both conflict and cooperation simultaneously with the same ‘Other’. In addition, it proposes to apply the framework of ontological security, in order to understand the responses of the EU, Russia and Turkey to the major existential crises that have affected them in past years, culminating with the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis of 2022.
Fracking is a novel but contested energy technology – so what makes some countries embrace it whilst others reject it? This book argues that the reason for policy divergence lies in procedures and processes, stakeholder inclusion and whether a strong narrative underpins governmental policies. Based on a large set of primary data gathered in Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, it explores shale gas policies in Central Eastern Europe (a region strongly dependent on Russian gas imports) to unveil the importance of policy regimes for creating a 'social license' for fracking. Its findings suggest that technology transfer does not happen in a vacuum but is subject to close mutual interaction with political, economic and social forces; and that national energy policy is not a matter of 'objective' policy imperatives, such as Russian import dependence, but a function of complex domestic dynamics pertaining to institutional procedures and processes, and winners and losers.
This book examines the mutual interplay of climate and energy policies in eleven Central and Eastern European countries in the context of the EU's energy transition. Energy security has long been prioritised in the region and has shaped not only national climate and energy policy, but also EU-level policy-making and implementation. Whilst the region shares economic, institutional and historical energy supplier commonalities it is not homogenous, and the book considers the significant differences between the preferences and policies of these member states. Chapters also explore the effect of the EU on member states that have joined since 2004 and their influence on the EU's energy and climate policies and their role in highlighting the importance of the concepts of security and solidarity. The book highlights the challenges to, and drivers of, energy transitions in the region and compares these with those in global energy transitions.
This book is a guide for understanding the EU renewable energy policy as one of the most ambitious attempts world-wide to facilitate a transition towards more sustainable energy systems. It contains key case studies for understanding how member states have shaped the EU renewable energy policy, how the EU has affected the policies of its member states and how renewable energy policies have diffused horizontally. An analysis of the external dimension of the EU renewable energy policy is also included.
