The European Foreign Energy Efficiency Policy: Securing External Energy Supply in a Carbon-Constrained World

The SAGE Handbook of European Foreign Policy: Two Volume Set

“…It does so by securing availability of future resources, creating investment opportunities for EU companies having a competitive advantage in energy efficiency technologies and contributing to climate change mitigation. Moreover, building on the hard case of EU-Russia relations, some authors argue that energy efficiency has been the most dynamic area of cooperation and one that has contributed to generate mutual understanding (Boute, 2012;Romanova, 2012). Studies on Euro-Mediterranean energy relations have also reached the same conclusion: that cooperation in developing renewable energies, for example the Mediterranean Solar Plan, may hold the formula for finally engaging Southern Mediterranean countries in win-win energy projects (Darbouche, 2011).…”

“…In addition, an important strand in the literature makes the case that cooperation in energy efficiency and renewables holds the promise of becoming the cornerstone of EU external energy policy. For example, Boute (2012) argues that a 'foreign energy efficiency policy' can be seen as a new external energy paradigm that uniquely reconciles security, economic and moral imperatives. It does so by securing availability of future resources, creating investment opportunities for EU companies having a competitive advantage in energy efficiency technologies and contributing to climate change mitigation.…”