The Baltic litmus test for gas

Abstract

• 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.