Tough times, shifting roles: examining the EU’s commercial diplomacy in foreign energy markets

Abstract

Focusing on the strategically important Caspian region, this article demonstrates how commercial energy diplomacy -political support for foreign-investing businesses -is increasingly conducted at the European Union (EU) level. It explains why member states have delegated this role, despite a general hesitancy to co-operate in foreign energy policy and perceptions of a strong division between diplomacy-based and (EU-favoured) governance-based approaches to external energy policy. To explain this new role (and its limits), this article employs a functional-rationalist framework focusing on the structural demands of a more challenging international energy environment and EU-level supply factors (economies of scale, increased leverage and more neutral/less politicized position of the EU) that help respond to it. Overall, the article examines an important area of increasing EU foreign energy cooperation and demonstrates how energy governance and diplomacy are not necessarily competing approaches, but rather different tools for achieving a more secure investment climate for European companies.

The energy dimension of the EU Eastern Partnership initiative in restructuring Europe’s security architecture

“…For example, Irina Kustova notes that 'energy power' is equated only with the possession of resources (Kustova, 2015), and therefore needs a better analytical and methodological justification'. Edward Stoddard (2016), who researches EU commercial diplomacy in the field of energy, where this avenue of approach aims to provide international protection for the interests of companies which belong to member states. The scholar argues that such diplomacy is carried out in parallel with strategic economic diplomacy, and therefore it includes not only the important foreign policy interests at the state level, but also those of other factors which influence energy policy (Stoddard specifies the problem as one which involves the needs of companies in EU member states).…”

Commercial Diplomacy as a Part of National Transformation and its Impact on the Internationalization of SMEs: Evidence from Saudi Arabia

“…Therefore, a research gap exists by virtue of the fact that CD is usually studied from a country-related perspective, while a need remains urgent to delve into its specific details from a company-related perspective. The use of CD, particularly by SMEs in Saudi Arabia, has yet to be studied in any meaningful way, with academic attention focusing on other regions like the European Union (EU) (Stoddard, 2017) China (Segal, 2017) and Africa (Qobo, 2017). With this is mind, the current study's intention is to explore the correlation between CD, national transformation, and SMEs internationalization, and in so doing make an original contribution to the existing literature.…”

“…Tsyhankova and Bezverkha (2017) illustrate that as an outcome of globalization and the increased turbulence that accompanies economic progress, the need to merge CD activities into the government's national plan becomes more critical. Such need is also observed with the continuous liberation of markets at international and regional levels, which has increased their competitiveness and provided new openings for entering them (Stoddard, 2017). This implies that state representatives are required to prioritize the inclusion of CD in any national transformation planning or structuring process for the economy.…”