During the last two decades the study of European foreign policy has experienced remarkable growth, presumably reflecting a more significant international role of the European Union. The Union has significantly expanded its policy portfolio and though empty symbolic politics still exists, the Union’s international relations have become more substantial and its foreign policy more focused. European foreign policy has become a dynamic policy area, being adapted to changing challenges and environments, such as the Arab Spring, new emerging economies/powers; the crisis of multilateralism and much more. The SAGE Handbook of European Foreign Policy, Two-Volume set, is a major reference work for Foreign Policy Programmes around the world. The Handbook is designed to be accessible to graduate and postgraduate students in a wide variety of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences. Both volumes are structured to address areas of critical concern to scholars at the cutting edge of all major dimensions of foreign policy. The volumes are composed of original chapters written specifically to the following themes: • Research traditions and historical experience • Theoretical perspectives• EU actors• State actors• Societal actors• The politics of European foreign policy• Bilateral relations• Relations with multilateral institutions• Individual policies• Transnational challenges The Handbook will be an essential reference for both advanced students and scholars.

European External Energy Policy: Governance, Diplomacy and Sustainability

European External Energy Policy: Governance, Diplomacy and Sustainability

European external energy policy: governance, diplomacy and sustainability
Anna Herranz-Surralls

Introduction

The EU's high dependence on external supplies of hydrocarbons is a well-known fact. The EU is the world's biggest importer of primary energy and its portfolio of suppliers is relatively undiversified – Russia is the origin of more than one third of its oil and gas imports. This high-energy dependence and low diversification has long been seen as a thorn in the flesh of the EU's foreign policy. Indeed, the very first steps of European Political Cooperation (EPC) in the 1970s were marked by internal division and unilateral responses of the nine member states of the European Communities (EEC) to the 1973–4 oil ...

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