The European Union (EU) is likely to face a gas supply-demand gap of 27 bcm in 2023-2024. This gap could be reduced by enhancing its partnership with oil and gas producing countries with spare export capacity – particularly Algeria, Egypt and Nigeria – to incentivise the capture and export of gas that is currently wasted (flared, vented and leaked). To tap this opportunity the EU could combine two measures in the REPowerEU toolbox: joint gas purchasing and 'You collect/we buy’ schemes (purchasing frameworks aimed to incentivise the capture of wasted fossil gasses, including methane, under the EU energy diplomacy). This combination would enable the main barriers preventing greater capture of methane to be addressed while taking advantage of the Union’s leverage: the presence of non-operated joint ventures (NOJVs) controlled by EU-based undertakings in the region; and the upcoming EU Methane Regulation covering domestic emissions and those associated with fossil energy imports. This approach would help the EU increase its energy security without triggering unintended policy consequences: compromising on its climate targets; prolonging reliance on fossil fuels; or decelerating the energy transition in developing economies. If successful, the scheme could be replicated in other regions to support achievement of the Global Methane Pledge objectives.
The Brief explores pathways to promote a sustainable agricultural trade regime for the EU. We identify three challenges and propose three potential paths forward. We discuss potential implications of the [...]
The rewable energy resources within EU27 are highly dominated by wind and solar energy delivering electricity as output. As electrification is the most efficient way to deliver the energy services [...]
Manufacturing firms in the EU face the double challenge of decarbonisation and (international) competitive pressure. Based on the key findings of the 2024 EIB investment survey and considering the economic [...]
Regulation 1370/2007, as amended by the Fourth Railway Package, set the date of 25 December 2023 for the opening to competition of services subject to public service obligations. As opposed [...]
This policy brief contends that a new approach to Long Term Contracts (LTCs) in European competition policy based on new facts, new realities and a revised reasoning must be urgently [...]
In the North Seas region, a coalition of 9 countries expressed the ambition to quadruple their offshore wind capacity from 30 GW to 120 GW by 2030, and to then [...]
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