FTD publishes GPPi Fellow article on the European Commission’s energy strategy

On November 28, the Financial Times Deutschland published an article co-authored by GPPi Fellow Andreas Goldthau. The article, entitled ​“Phantomdebattte ums Gas,” questions a central feature of the recent revision on the European Commission’s energy strategy: the ​“southern corridor,” which is supposed to bring natural gas from the Caspian region to Western Europe. As Goldthau points out, a key element of this corridor is the planned Nabucco gas pipeline that will transport natural gas from Turkey to Austria, and will be fed by the South Caucasus-Pipeline. 

Goldthau argues that, counter to public debates, the problem is not whether transit routes are safe and secure; rather, it remains entirely unclear as to where the necessary volumes of natural gas should come from to fill the Nabucco pipeline. The article points out that Turkmenistan’s gas is contractually committed to Russia; Azerbaijan’s gas export capacities are insufficient; and Iran is not a desirable option due to political reasons.

The European debate on energy security, according to Goldthau, should be guided by more by market fundamentals. The article recommends instead to focus on smaller but more efficient projects such as the Turkey-Greece-Italy (TGI) pipeline, and to liberalize the European gas market to ​“Europeanize” supply risks.