STRENGTHENING EU-US ENERGY COOPERATION

Regardless of the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, the climate agenda is not going away. Europe will want to keep the United States engaged on climate as much as possible, and it is not in the US interest to be isolated on this issue. Despite differences on both sides of the Atlantic, there will be strong incentives for the United States and the EU to work together on a structure that allows continued forward movement on global capital engagement. EU-US energy cooperation has a win-win history. Many challenges remain, and opportunities to build business ties abound. We should seize them  

Energy is a key issue in the relations between the EU and US. The EU-US Energy Council is a high-level bilateral meeting to discuss common energy challenges and prospects. The Energy Council has held annual meetings since 2009, and its conclusions feed into the broader EU-US Summit. The Energy Council has set up working groups to look into particular aspects of the energy relationships. Neither the USA nor the EU have a comparable format for bilateral energy relations with other Countries. The Energy Council constitutes a forum for regular dialogue and has so far involved very high-level representatives in its proceedings. The effectiveness of the Energy Council requires sustained commitment and could be improved by providing more mechanisms for implementation, administrative coordination and a follow-up on agreed EU-US goals.

EU and US strategic priorities.

1. Energy security,
2. Investment in critical infrastructures,
3. Mitigation of climate change,
4. Energy efficiency,
5. Promotion of renewable energy,
6. Developing new technologies on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and smart grids,
7. Guaranteeing nuclear safety,
8. Encouraging regulatory convergence and
9. Promoting cooperation in energy research and technologies.
10. Enhancing future bilateral cooperation in the Energy Council
11. Ways to promote public and private investment in energy research,
12. Development and demonstration (RD&D) projects,
13. Encouraging deeper cooperation through international frameworks such as the Clean Energy Ministerial, and
14. Making further progress towards concluding an Environmental Goods Agreement at WTO level.

Global energy dialogue involves an array of overlapping multilateral fora in which USA, EU and its Member States are closely involved. Active participation in these multilateral fora can complement bilateral relations between the USA and EU in the energy field.

1. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): The principal founding objective of the IEA was to develop strategic oil reserves and burden-sharing mechanisms, in order to minimise the effects of major supply shocks. As such risks have receded and some IEA members have become major energy producers in their own right (notably the USA), the IEA’s organisational role has evolved to focus on global energy dialogue, broader security of supply issues, ways to improve energy efficiency, promote use of renewable and meet global climate changes goals.
2. OECD Nuclear Agency: The purpose of the OECD Nuclear Agency is to assist imember countries in maintaining and further developing, through international co-operation, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for a safe, environmentally sound and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. It strives to provide authoritative assessments and to forge common understandings on key issues as input to government decisions on nuclear energy policy and to broader OECD analyses in areas such as energy and the sustainable development of low-carbon economies.
3. International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA): Founded in 2011, includes 149 members (with another 27 countries in the process of joining), drawn from across the world including the USA, the EU and 27 of its Member States.
4. International Energy Forum: The primary purpose of the International Energy Forum is to enhance dialogue between energy-production and consumption.
5. The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM): The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) is a global forum, founded in 2009 to promote policies and share best practices to accelerate the global transition to clean energy. The Secretariat of CEM was initially based on US Department of Energy, reflecting strong US interest behind this initiative. In June 2016 the participating countries agreed to move the Secretariat to the more neutral location of IEA headquarters in Paris. CEM currently has 24 participating countries (plus the European Commission), including the USA and eight EU Member States. CEM participating countries account for 75% of GHG emissions and over 90% of investments in clean energy. Involvement in CEM programmes and initiatives is on a voluntary basis. The European Commission and EU Member States only participate in a limited number of them.
6. The G20: The Framework in which the bilateral cooperation between the EU-US works takes the G20 dimension into consideration, maybe the most important global diplomatic meeting about energy. Energy collaboration within and beyond G20 Countries is important for tackling common energy challenges and shaping a sustainable low GHG (Green House Gas) emission energy future, while utilizing energy sources and technologies.

• Energy Access,
• Cleaner Energy Future,
• Renewable Energy,
• Nuclear Power,
• Natural Gas,
• Advanced and Cleaner Fossil Fuel technologies,
• Energy Efficiency,
• Energy Security,
• Inefficient Fossil Fuel Subsidies,
• Market Transparency.