Interview about EU and RussiaDmitri Medvedev in BerlinOn June 6, 2008, senior researcher Svend Aage Christensen, DIIS, was interviewed in the Danish television programme DR2 Udland about the visit of Dmitri Medvedev in Berlin. The interview focussed on the relations between the EU and Russia and especially gas trade and pipelines. In his speech at a meeting with German political, parliamentary and civic leaders Medvedev had stated the following: “We are also ready to examine the possibility of establishing international consortiums that would operate transit pipelines with the participation of companies from Russia, the European Union and the transit countries. This is an example of the interdependency that we have been talking about in Europe and in the globalizing world in general”. When discussing the gas trade between EU and Russia, it should be noted that in December 2007 EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs presented a Priority Action Plan at the EuroMed Energy Ministerial Conference in Limassol. On this occasion he said that North Africa has a great potential. “If we combine the potential gas production of Algeria, Libya and Egypt, by 2020 gas exports from the Maghreb to Europe could reach the level of Russian gas exports.” http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/07/826&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en It is also of some avail for the gas trade that in June 2007 the European Council adopted an EU strategy for a new partnership with Central Asia. This strategy will serve as an overall framework for EU relations with Central Asia, including in the fields of economic development, trade and investment, energy and transport, environmental policies, migration and inter-cultural dialogue. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/ec/94932.pdf See also Regional Strategy Paper for Assistance to Central Asia for the period 2007-2013. http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/ceeca/c_asia/07_13_en.pdf DIIS publication: Svend Aage Christensen, Energidialogen mellem EU og Rusland, which discusses the question of a transit protocol to the Energy Charter Treaty. Contact: Senior researcher Svend Aage Christensen, |
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