Die Idee einer Vertiefung der Kooperation zwischen der EU und Russland im Energiebereich ist nicht neu: Der Energiedialog und Gas Advisory Council sind die prominentesten Beispiele. Allerdings wurden seit 2011 kaum Fortschritte erzielt. Die proklamierten Ziele wie die Etablierung eines gemeinsamen Energieraums scheinen vergessen zu sein. Heute, da das Vertrauen zwischen Russland und der EU am niedrigsten Stand seit 1990 ist, ist es an der Zeit diese Ideen mit Leben zu füllen. Durch die Etablierung einer EU-Russland Gas-Kommission schlägt Jekaterina Grigorjeva vor, eine der stärksten Interdependenzen zwischen der EU und Russland zur Grundlage eines langfristigen Vertrauensverhältnisses zu entwickeln.
Der gesamte Beitrag auf Englisch:
EU-Russia Gas Commission
As a solution to the current crisis of the European security, I would like to propose the establishment of an EU-Russia Gas Commission.
The European Union is the key to the relations between Russia and the West, suggesting that the issue of trust can be solved by working on the EU-Russia relations. However, is trust rational? If states as rational actors base their decision on all available information, then only an absolute global disclosure would lead to trust. Instead, countries create unions and common institutions in order to increase transparency and interdependency between them. A difficulty arises if an existing interdependency becomes critical due to the lack of trust and there are no suitable institutions in place to restore it.
The trade in natural gas represents the strongest interdependency between Russia and the EU. While the EU is concerned about the security of supply, the security of the European demand is crucial for Russia. Despite the currently tensed relations between Russia and the West, this interdependency cannot be denied, but it can be effectively managed by creating a joint institution for coordination of the EU-Russia gas relations. Such institution would be in charge of security of supply and demand, strategic infrastructure planning, price setting mechanism, and overseeing the regulatory compliance. Additionally, it would be responsible for the relations with transit states and conflict resolution between the parties. An independent Expertise Unit of specialists from the EU and Russia, open to foreign participation, together with a Department for Dispute Settlement would comprise the core of the Commission. The institution should be founded on a bipolar principle, with none of the parties having the lead, and the headquarters located on a neutral territory.
By bringing together the EU Member States with the main non-EU supplier in one independent institution, the EU-Russia Gas Commission would increase the energy security of the entire European continent. The increased transparency created by a common institution would help to depoliticise the EU-Russia energy relations, positively affecting the European security as a whole. As such, the EU-Russia Gas Commission would help to re-establish the trust between Russia and the EU, and consequently – Russia and the West.
Mit diesem Vorschlag wurde Jekaterina Grigorjeva als Junior Ambassador zur Münchener Sicherheistkonferenz berufen.