Fuelling the Fire: Rethinking European Policy in Times of Energy and Climate Crises

Valeria Costantini, Valentina Morando, Christopher Olk and Luca Tausch
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Valentina Morando: Department of Economics, Roma Tre University, 00145 Rome, Italy
Christopher Olk: Department of Economics, Roma Tre University, 00145 Rome, Italy
Luca Tausch: Department of Economics, Roma Tre University, 00145 Rome, Italy

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 20, 1-18

Abstract: The European Union’s relative disregard for the economic, geopolitical and climatic concerns of its peripheral Eastern countries has contributed to making the war in Ukraine possible. Its consequences are now returning in the form of energy dependence and economic instability on the Union as a whole and the risk of economic crisis and deindustrialisation. This should prompt a re-assessment of the EU’s strategy towards its eastern neighbours, particularly in the energy and climate policy field. This evaluation starts from the issue of control over cheap energy as a key material foundation of state and interstate power. On this basis, we analyse the struggle between Russia and the European core states over Ukraine in terms of the ability to extract an economic surplus through the unequal exchange of energy. The current escalation should be understood as an attempt by the Russian petrostate to preserve the economic basis of its regime, which is threatened by the prospect of a low-carbon transition in Europe. We conclude that a massive acceleration of the transition away from fossil fuels is the key to economic, geopolitical and climate stabilisation, highlighting possible policy instruments the EU could use to secure its production system and protect citizens’ security.

Keywords: climate policy; core-periphery; energy crisis; European Union; Russia–Ukraine conflict; world systems analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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