The war in Ukraine has created significant momentum for the European Union (EU) to diversify its energy sources and become independent from Russian oil and gas. In the short term, some of its major member states are striving to secure alternative supplies—mostly from the MENA region, the United States, a few African countries, and Azerbaijan—by increasing gas supplies both via existing pipelines and through LNG shipments.
However, the EU faces the challenge of establishing a new model of energy security, stable over the longer term and in line with its ambitious climate goals, as detailed in the EU Green Deal and in Fit for 55.
Even before the COVID and Ukraine crises, the idea of forging a new model of energy interdependence between the EU and North Africa was in the works, whereby the latter…