IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v172y2023ics0301421522005481.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A choice between neoliberal engagement and strategic autonomy? The impossibility of EU's green cooperation with Russia between 2019 and 2021

Author

Listed:
  • Romanova, Tatiana

Abstract

This article explores the dynamic coexistence of neoliberal and realist narratives in the EU's discourse on international green cooperation with a focus on Russia. Using critical discourse analysis and critical geopolitics, the article explores how the neoliberal and realist narratives were applied in the EU's international (Russia-focused) energy transition cooperation. The neoliberal narrative presupposed fine-tuned multilateralism and market openness, with an opportunity for Russia to join the EU's success story. The realist narrative was based on the notions of relative gains, strategic autonomy/sovereignty, market corrections by public authorities, borders and closed alliances, Russia was used in this narrative to encourage more EU autonomy and strategic partnerships. The article demonstrates how and why the geopolitical narrative was strengthened between 2020 and 2021. It reveals the similarities between the neoliberal and realist narratives regarding the policy framework and relative positions of the EU and Russia in the spacialisation of the green energy policy. As a result, no policy opening for selective engagement with Russia emerged; rather, the 2020–2021 discourse prepared the EU for a policy shift that it took to react to Russia's assault against Ukraine in February 2022.

Suggested Citation

  • Romanova, Tatiana, 2023. "A choice between neoliberal engagement and strategic autonomy? The impossibility of EU's green cooperation with Russia between 2019 and 2021," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:172:y:2023:i:c:s0301421522005481
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113329
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421522005481
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113329?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Caroline Kuzemko & Andrew Lawrence & Matthew Watson, 2019. "New directions in the international political economy of energy," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 1-24, January.
    2. John Vogler, 2003. "Taking Institutions Seriously: How Regime Analysis can be Relevant to Multilevel Environmental Governance," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 3(2), pages 25-39, May.
    3. Mark Leonard & Jeremy Shapiro & Jean Pisani-Ferry & Simone Tagliapietra & Guntram B. Wolff, 2021. "The geopolitics of the European Green Deal," Bruegel Policy Contributions 40941, Bruegel.
    4. Scholten, Daniel & Bazilian, Morgan & Overland, Indra & Westphal, Kirsten, 2020. "The geopolitics of renewables: New board, new game," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    5. Vakulchuk, Roman & Overland, Indra & Scholten, Daniel, 2020. "Renewable energy and geopolitics: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    6. Kratochvíl, Petr & Tichý, Lukáš, 2013. "EU and Russian discourse on energy relations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 391-406.
    7. Ian Manners, 2002. "Normative Power Europe: A Contradiction in Terms?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 235-258, June.
    8. Barnett, Michael & Duvall, Raymond, 2005. "Power in International Politics," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 59(1), pages 39-75, January.
    9. Filippos Proedrou, 2020. "Behind the EU's Energy and Climate Policy Conundrum: Erroneous Power Toolbox, Deadlocks and the Way Forward," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 402-418, March.
    10. Benjamin Hofmann & Torbjørg Jevnaker & Philipp Thaler, 2019. "Following, Challenging, or Shaping: Can Third Countries Influence EU Energy Policy?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 152-164.
    11. Romanova, Tatiana, 2021. "Russia's political discourse on the EU’s energy transition (2014–2019) and its effect on EU-Russia energy relations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    12. Finon, Dominique & Locatelli, Catherine, 2008. "Russian and European gas interdependence: Could contractual trade channel geopolitics?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 423-442, January.
    13. Louise Van Schaik & Simon Schunz, 2012. "Explaining EU Activism and Impact in Global Climate Politics: Is the Union a Norm‐ or Interest‐Driven Actor?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 169-186, January.
    14. Correlje, Aad & van der Linde, Coby, 2006. "Energy supply security and geopolitics: A European perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 532-543, March.
    15. Hoggett, Richard, 2014. "Technology scale and supply chains in a secure, affordable and low carbon energy transition," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 296-306.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Filippos Proedrou, 2023. "EU Decarbonization under Geopolitical Pressure: Changing Paradigms and Implications for Energy and Climate Policy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Buesa, Alejandro & Pedauga, Luis & Pinero, Pablo & Rueda-Cantuche, Jose Manuel & Baldassarre, Brian, 2024. "Can circularity in Titanium metal improve EU strategic autonomy? Scenario modelling with heterogeneous data," JRC Working Papers in Economics and Finance 2024-06, Joint Research Centre, European Commission.
    3. Mišík, Matúš & Nosko, Andrej, 2023. "Post-pandemic lessons for EU energy and climate policy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Introduction to a special issue on EU green recovery in the post-Covid-19 period," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gavin Bridge & Ludger Gailing, 2020. "New energy spaces: Towards a geographical political economy of energy transition," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(6), pages 1037-1050, September.
    2. Romanova, Tatiana, 2021. "Russia's political discourse on the EU’s energy transition (2014–2019) and its effect on EU-Russia energy relations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    3. Su, Chi-Wei & Khan, Khalid & Umar, Muhammad & Zhang, Weike, 2021. "Does renewable energy redefine geopolitical risks?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    4. Sandra Lavenex & Marja‐Liisa Öberg, 2023. "Third Country Influence on EU Law and Policy‐making: Setting the Scene," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(6), pages 1435-1453, November.
    5. Khan, Khalid & Su, Chi Wei & Khurshid, Adnan & Qin, Meng, 2023. "Does energy security improve renewable energy? A geopolitical perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    6. Liu, Fangying & Su, Chi Wei & Qin, Meng & Lobonţ, Oana-Ramona, 2023. "Winner or loser? The bidirectional impact between geopolitical risk and energy transition from the renewable energy perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    7. Srivastava, Nidhi, 2023. "Trade in critical minerals: Revisiting the legal regime in times of energy transition," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    8. Mehdi Abbas & Catherine Locatelli, 2019. "Interdependence as a lever for national hybridization: The EU-Russia gas trade [L’hybridation des systèmes institutionnels nationaux dans l’interdépendance. Les échanges gaziers UE-Russie]," Post-Print hal-02472141, HAL.
    9. Ocelík, Petr & Osička, Jan, 2014. "The framing of unconventional natural gas resources in the foreign energy policy discourse of the Russian Federation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 97-109.
    10. Mehdi Abbas & Catherine Locatelli, 2020. "National institutional systems’ hybridisation through interdependence. The case of EU-Russia gas relations," Post-Print hal-02272171, HAL.
    11. Tavana, Madjid & Pirdashti, Mohsen & Kennedy, Dennis T. & Belaud, Jean-Pierre & Behzadian, Majid, 2012. "A hybrid Delphi-SWOT paradigm for oil and gas pipeline strategic planning in Caspian Sea basin," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 345-360.
    12. Khan, Khalid & Khurshid, Adnan & Cifuentes-Faura, Javier & Xianjun, Dai, 2024. "Does renewable energy development enhance energy security?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    13. Maarten J. Arentsen, 2011. "Trends in Gas," Chapters, in: Matthias Finger & Rolf W. Künneke (ed.), International Handbook of Network Industries, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Nicolae PINTILIE, 2021. "Is there a Connection between Renewable Energy and Geopolitics? A Review," Management and Economics Review, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 6(1), pages 112-122, June.
    15. Tomasz Jerzyniak & Anna Herranz‐Surrallés, 2024. "EU Geoeconomic Power in the Clean Energy Transition," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 1028-1045, July.
    16. Jürgen Rüland, 2012. "The rise of “diminished multilateralism”: East Asian and European forum shopping in global governance," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 255-270, March.
    17. Carlson, Ewa Lazarczyk & Pickford, Kit & Nyga-Łukaszewska, Honorata, 2023. "Green hydrogen and an evolving concept of energy security: Challenges and comparisons," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P1).
    18. Locatelli, C., 2018. "La confrontation des systèmes institutionnels nationaux dans l'interdépendance : les échanges gaziers UE-Russie," Working Papers 2018-03, Grenoble Applied Economics Laboratory (GAEL).
    19. Javier Parra-Domínguez & Esteban Sánchez & Ángel Ordóñez, 2023. "The Prosumer: A Systematic Review of the New Paradigm in Energy and Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-44, July.
    20. Mai'a K. Davis Cross & Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski & Mai'a K. Davis Cross & Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski, 2017. "What Type of Power has the EU Exercised in the Ukraine–Russia Crisis? A Framework of Analysis," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 3-19, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:172:y:2023:i:c:s0301421522005481. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.