The thorny issue of the energy dependency

Russia is the largest single energy partner of the EU Energy represents 65% of total import from Russia (2007) 40.4% of total EU’s gas imports come from Russia Sales of raw materials to the EU represents 40% of the Russian budget EU represents 80% of cumulative foreign investments in Russia More than 60% of the Russian external investments are done in the EU. Russian Federation is also the second EU oil supplier with 20% of the importations and 16% of the total consumption

Germany—the fourth largest consumer of natural gas in the world Depends on Russia for 43% of its imports vs: 100% dependence of the three Baltic States, Romania, Bulgaria Vs. France’s - 24% Vs. Spain and Portugal, which do not import gas from Russia at all.

• That Russia will threaten to shut off energy supplies or increase prices to extract political concessions; • That Russia will exploit existing debts for energy supplies or other economic weakness in energy consuming countries to buy or take over assets in those countries’ energy sectors or other sectors, with a view to use those assets for political leverage; • That Russia will unfairly seize the assets of U.S. or European energy companies operating in Russia, or force western firms to sell their assets, possibly at low prices; • That Russia’s energy wealth and power will encourage broader assertiveness in Moscow’s foreign policy to the detriment of U.S. and European interests.

1973 Oil Crisis that any sort of European Community strategy was created for energy policy. In 1974 the European Council adopted a programme that prioritised getting energy from as many different sources as possible, so that no one group could hold the world to ransom over oil. 1995 and again in 2001 and 2003, the European Commission attempted to define 'An Energy Policy for the EU'. These efforts focused on