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The region of the Middle East, historically rich in oil and natural gas resources, has long played a pivotal role in global energy markets, and European countries have relied on hydrocarbons coming from the Middle East for decades. It comes not as a surprise that the ongoing crises in the region, including wars, political instability, and economic sanctions, have had a profound impact on the energy policies of the European Union and of the EU’s member states. From Iraq to Syria, and later Palestine, Israel, Yemen, and now Lebanon, the dynamic of the Middle East crises has shaped the EU’s approach to energy security, diversification, and sustainability.

EU’s reliance on sources from Middle Eastern countries (especially looking at the whole MENA region, encompassing the Southern Mediterranean area as well) has been a cornerstone of the European energy strategy for decades. The region’s huge hydrocarbon reserves have provided the European economies with a both reliable and affordable supply of energy for decades, giving a conspicuous boost to its economic growth and industrial development.

More recently, the impact of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and the EU sanctions against Moscow and its firms, especially the energetic ones, changed the approach of European member states on hydrocarbon supplies. EU countries relied mainly on Norway, the US, and other partners to compensate for the natural gas and oil that they bought from Russia before the start of the conflict. Still, Middle Eastern countries such as Qatar played a huge role in this context, supporting the increasing demands of the European industries.

However, in the last twelve months the geopolitical landscape in the region surrounding Europe has further changed, with the outbreak of conflicts and the rise of tensions in the whole Middle East. The result of such a dynamic has been the disruption of global supply chains, increased energy prices, and the creation of a sense of vulnerability for the EU, which was forced to send a naval mission in the Red Sea in order to preserve its energetic and commercial interests.

Thus, one of the key consequences of the regional crises in the Middle East has been the EU’s increased focus on energy diversification. Luckily enough, the European countries already embarked in 2022 on the difficult task of finding new energy partners in order to reduce their reliance on Russia, seeking also to produce more energy from renewable sources, investing billions of euros in solar, wind, and hydropower projects. In this way, the EU has strengthened its energy cooperation with other regions, including North Africa, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, while promoting energy policies in the 27 member states that allow to accelerate the green transition towards a low-carbon economy. The EU programs on renewable energy sources are long-term ones, and the partnership with partners outside the European continent, especially those in the MENA region, will be crucial to balance the needs of EU industries in the next ten to twenty years, at least. At the same time, as the Russia invasion of Ukraine thought to governments and firms in the European Union, any crisis can become an opportunity if there is the political and economic will to overcome it in a both creative and reliable way.

Written by: Francesco Marino