Toward A New Transatlantic Energy Security Strategy

The energy and security positions of the United States and Europe are, at first glance, on opposite trajectories. Europe faces a number of newly salient security challenges along the arc of instability at its periphery, from North Africa to the Middle East to a cooling of relations with Russia. The United States, meanwhile, has vastly diminished its oil imports, is moving to become a net exporter of natural gas, and has already become a net exporter of energy overall.

As energy markets and foreign policy priorities in the United States and the EU evolve, so too does the landscape for enhanced cooperation at the intersection of energy and security.  Carnegie’s David Livingston convened a roundtable of American and European energy and security experts to discuss this evolving landscape and identify underused tools and mechanisms for managing it in the transatlantic context.

The event, co-sponsored by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, was held under the Chatham House Rule and divided into three sessions, with opening remarks given by the following featured speakers:

Session 1: The Arc of Instability

• Paula Pinho, head of unit for Energy Policy Coordination in the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission
• Brenda Schaffer, adjunct assistant professor in the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and Eastern European Studies at Georgetown University
• Moderator: Richard Youngs, nonresident associate at Carnegie Europe

Session 2: The Rules Governing Energy Trade

• Neil Brown, nonresident fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States
• Petros Sourmelis, head of unit for Market Access, Industry, Energy, and Raw Materials in the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission
• Moderator: David Livingston, associate in the Energy and Climate Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Session 3: Untapped Opportunities for Strengthening European Energy Security

• Reinhard Bütikofer, member of the Committee on Industry, Research, and Energy in the European Parliament
• Varun Sivaram, fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
• Moderator: Jan Cienski, energy and security editor at POLITICO Europe