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MedReg promotes a transparent, stable and harmonized regulatory framework in the Mediterranean Region fostering market integration and infrastructure investments, as well as aiming to consumer protection and enhanced energy cooperation. MedReg carries out its activities through a well structured and effective internal cooperation process and external collaboration with energy stakeholders in the Mediterranean Basin, with the objective to implement the conditions for the establishment of a future Mediterranean Energy Community, based on a bottom-up approach.
The institutional partnership is expected to foster coordinated transmission rules on a regional level, to promote the synergic development of electricity infrastructures, and to boost technical cooperation in critical areas such as security and quality. The most relevant of these is Medgrid, created in by a group of utilities, grid operators and equipment makers, 31 with the target of carrying out a feasibility study of the development of a grid aimed at connecting Europe to North African solar electricity producers.
New interconnectors are needed throughout the Mediterranean region to facilitate large-scale electricity trading between the north and south, in addition to inter-grid trading throughout the region.
The project is closely connected to the realization of the MSP, whose implementation delays are somehow frustrating also advancements of Medgrid initiatives. However, the current risks to energy security that the EU has to face, the need of North African countries to modify their traditional energy consumption patterns, and the potential windows of opportunity opened by the change of leadership in these countries encouraged the EU to explore this possibility. The emergence of a space of democracy, economic development and social inclusion foreseen during and in the immediate aftermath of the uprisings has not yet materialized.
Rather, in the main energy producing countries the revolts have produced questionable and significantly different results.
After the civil war and the death of Colonel Gheddafi and the liberation of the country announced by the National Transitional Council in October of the same year, the situation in Libya is still critical, due to insurgency led by former Gheddafi loyalists, continuous threats of secession by Cyrenaica authorities, and clashes between clans for the control of specific areas or economic activities.
Uncertainty and security concerns affect also the energy sector —in both gas exports and crude trade were blocked for security reasons— preventing the government to develop new coherent strategies in the energy domain. In terms of political structure, indeed, Algeria is the North African country to have undergone the least change in the past few years.
However, the fact that the Algerian regime survived this wave of revolts does not mean that it is intrinsically strong and stable. In fact, the regime led by President Bouteflika is particularly concerned by the situation of instability in neighbouring Libya, which could set a precedent for Algerian protesters, but also create chaos in the region and result in further tribal secession demands on its soil.
A Global Integration Strategy for the Mediterranean Countries: Open Trade and Market Reforms. Author/Editor: Oleh Havrylyshyn. Publication. The economy of the Mediterranean region countries - which in the present study include Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, A Global Integration Strategy for the Mediterranean Countries: Open Trade and Market Reforms.
In general, the necessity to face these challenges and to ensure the continuity of the regime through energy revenues has encouraged the Algerian government to maintain its traditional energy policies. However, contextualizing the situation in the broader regional trends, it is possible to envisage some room for deepening the energy relations between the EU and its North African partners. In the current transition phase, North African countries urgently need to find a new path of strong and sustainable socio-economic development, necessary to respond to the changes invoked by the population.
Energy is a fundamental factor to respond to this challenge, as it affects the main macroeconomic parameters of the countries, including fiscal balances and poverty trends. Due to the strong complementarities and the proximity of the markets, closer Mediterranean cooperation in this domain provides important dividends to both the EU and its regional partners, as far as energy security, sustainable development, economic growth and job creation are concerned.
The results reached by bottom-up Euro-Mediterranean cooperation show this approach may represent an important option to achieve these objectives. At the theoretical level, the new leaderships could be tempted to explore other forms of energy cooperation with new international partners.
In this context of increasing overture , global energy players such as the US, China, Russia, Brazil and the Gulf countries could take the opportunity to establish closer partnership in the region. This argument became particularly popular during the military intervention in Libya to overturn Col. Algeria, the least affected by the political changes occurred in North Africa, is a case in point. The Algerian government, indeed, is intensively attempting to diversify its exports options to cope with the declining energy demand in the EU markets. The regime has clearly expressed its interest in exploring new markets, and started considering to expand LNG sales in Asia —where spot prices are significantly higher than in Europe— and South America.
However, considering the emerging energy trends at the national, regional and global level, some of the political and social processes activated by the revolts may contribute to mutate the traditional cooperation paradigms.
In this evolving context, the EU could take the opportunity to deepen its energy dialogue with these countries and strengthen its energy security policies. However, if not played with coherence and supported by its Member States, such leading role in the region may be challenged by the potential emergence of new international energy competitors in the Mediterranean space. Two Irreconcilable Foreign Policy Goals? The organisation was in October in Athens, Greece. Learn more about Amazon Prime.
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