Energy Policy

The European Union is seeking to re-regulate Europe’s energy sector to improve security of supply, sustainability and competitiveness. Energy transformation in Europe has exposed the shortcomings of over-regulation and national-centric policy, providing the Middle East with valuable lessons to manage supply, competition and future investment in its own market.

1. Supply Diversification: Shale gas development in North America has exemplified supply diversification. Yet opinion on shale remains divided in Europe as environmental concerns are often perceived as outweighing diversification gains.

The European Union (EU) enacted Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 (the Regulation), which contains ‘Stage 3’ sanctions against Russia. These sanctions resemble – but in other ways are different – from the latest US sanctions, and they amount to the stiffest anti-Russian actions taken by Europe since the end of the Cold War. Perhaps most significantly, the EU’s new sanctions are targeting sectors in Russia’s economy which are not directly connected to events in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, as