Date: 2017
Type: Other
The Baltic litmus test for gas
Policy Briefs, 2017/16, Florence School of Regulation, Energy, Gas
PIEBALGS, Andris, The Baltic litmus test for gas, Policy Briefs, 2017/16, Florence School of Regulation, Energy, Gas - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/47527
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
• Much has been written and commented, in recent years, about the Baltic States and their delicate position – both geographically and politically speaking – concerning security of gas supply and energy independence from Russia. • While it’s no secret that the region has for a long time been quasi totally dependent from Gazprom imports, the profound, sometimes inevitable reasons of such vulnerability are not evident. At the same time – and consequently - the implications and ‘side effects’ of some energy policy and regulatory choices taken in this region are not the same as in any other country in Europe. • If we do not understand this, it becomes very difficult to see why the decision to open an LNG terminal in this region (Klaipeda) is welcome as ‘a symbol of energy independence’; and it becomes even harder to accept that the sudden, unfair price increase to gas customers by the incumbent company is publicly justified as the answer to the ‘inadequate’ choices - legitimately taken - by a country’s government. • As the title suggests, since they joined the Union in 2004, the Baltic countries have been the theatre of a delicate test for EU-Russia relations – which we might consider as still ongoing. • Since then, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have undergone a resolute path towards liberalization and diversification of energy sources – which will eventually lead these countries to becoming a single entryexit zone in 2020. But the road has been long and rocky. • That’s what this work by former Commissioner Andris Piebalgs is about, seen with the eyes of an expert and at the same time a ‘local’ belonging to the region (Andris Piebalgs is from and has lived most of his life in Latvia). • This paper is not really a Policy Brief strictu sensu, but rather a photography: by reading it, the reader is not told any ‘pre-packaged’ truth but, on the contrary, he/she is guided through the recent history of the Baltic states and given the instruments to find out – by himself – the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the delicate gas policy choices made by the Baltic countries.
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/47527
Full-text via DOI: 10.2870/77496
ISBN: 9789290844778
ISSN: 2467-4540
External link: http://fsr.eui.eu/
Series/Number: Policy Briefs; 2017/16; Florence School of Regulation; Energy; Gas
Files associated with this item
- Name:
- RSCAS_FSR_PB_2017_16.PDF
- Size:
- 908.8Kb
- Format:
- Description:
- Full-text in Open Access