CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020
| Author | Kóbor, Frida |
|---|---|
| Title | The Energy Relations of the European Union and the Russian Federation Under the Juncker Commission: the Discourse of Energy Security and Decarbonisation |
| Summary | The European Union (EU) is the biggest energy importer, and to a significant extent dependent on a single supplier, the Russian Federation (RF). Energy security concerns have long been dominating the EU-RF energy relationship due to this overdependence and vulnerability to external supply shocks. Simultaneously, the EU set ambitious decarbonisation goals with the aim of a low-carbon economy. Considering that decarbonisation has the potential to fundamentally transform established energy relationships, analysing this aspect is especially important in the EU-RF relationship due to their mutual dependence. Consequently, the aim of this thesis was to examine the energy security and decarbonisation discourses in the EU-RF energy relationship from the EU’s perspective, considering this duality of energy policy objectives of the EU. As Jean-Claude Juncker was appointed President of the European Commission shortly after the Crimean crisis, and the Paris Agreement was negotiated during his presidency, this period is ideal to synthesise the EU’s views. My approach to this study was based on discourse analysis, using various sources published by the European Commission and individual Commissioners. My analysis turned out to be in line with previous research arguing that energy security plays the leading role, and the negative perception of the RF strengthened further during this period. There was also strong emphasis on negative interdependence due to geographical and infrastructural circumstances. While there were initiatives for cooperation under the decarbonisation discourse, decarbonisation was perceived mostly as a tool by the EU to reduce vulnerability to Russian supply disruptions and geopolitical uncertainties. |
| Supervisor | Watt, Alan |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2020/kobor_frida.pdf |
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