What can hold the emerging European-Gulf Arab partnership together?
EMERGING EUROPE
With the right level of engagement, and recognition for the private sector, we could move towards a new era for Gulf-Europe relations, and towards an enduring partnership.
As the global energy crisis continues to redefine geopolitics, the need to develop and strengthen partnerships has become more urgent than ever. In that context, it is looking increasingly more like this year may be the year that Europeans and Gulf Arab states start talking to each other in a language that both can understand.
This is no doubt a positive development given the strain that this relationship has had to bear over the years, particularly as the influence of Gulf Arab states on the global stage has grown. Yet we could be entering a new era of more positive and pragmatic co-operation – the groundwork is well underway.
In February the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held their first joint council and ministerial meeting in six years. Then, in May, the European Commission proposed a Strategic Partnership between the two, with the aim of boosting cooperation on security, trade and the development and transition away from carbon-based fuels to cleaner, more renewable and sustainable forms.
An important impetus in the shift has been the Europeans’ opposition to Russia and its invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. In addition to imposing sanctions, the EU is keen to reduce its energy dependence on Russia, which account for 62 per cent of all European energy imports. These figures break down as 40 per cent of gas, 27 per cent of oil and 46 per cent of its coal. As part of this process, the Commission aims to reduce Russian gas imports by two-thirds by the end of the year.
If that is to happen, then the shortfall will need to be made up somewhere else. While several alternatives must be explored, there is no sustainable and effective strategy for closing this gap in the short and medium term, which does not include stronger partnerships with the Gulf. There are plenty of opportunities – such as LNG in Qatar – which could prove valuable in diversifying Europe’s energy supply.
