Modernizing Energy Security—A Transatlantic Approach

The energy and security positions of the United States and Europe are, at first glance, on opposite trajectories.

Europe, in particular certain states in Central and Eastern Europe, have seen security of supply as an acute issue in the wake of Ukraine’s destabilization and the ensuing freeze in relations with Russia. Europe is simultaneously surrounded by a broader arc of instability, from Russia to the Levant to North Africa, which complicates its efforts to enhance energy security by diversifying its proximate supply.

As the United States assumes the role of a major energy producer and partial exporter, key thinkers in the United States and the EU are looking to modernize the transatlantic partnership as a foundation for greater collaboration on twenty-first century energy and security challenges.

Carnegie’s David Livingston convened a roundtable of American and European security experts to challenge conventional wisdom and explore whether current transatlantic tools and institutions are truly fit for purpose. The roundtable was part of an ongoing transatlantic energy security dialogue series, organized by the Carnegie Endowment and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and located in Brussels, Washington, DC, and Warsaw.

The event was held under the Chatham House Rule and divided into three sessions with opening remarks given by the following featured speakers.

Agenda

Session 1: The Transatlantic Relationship in an Age of Upheaval—Prices, Crises, and the Global Commons            

• R. Andreas Kraemer, IASS Potsdam and Ecologic Institute
• Sarah Ladislaw, CSIS
• Moderator: Julianne Smith, Center for a New American Security

Session 2: Energy Cooperation Instruments—Policy, Trade, and Thinking Outside of TTIP

• Neil Brown, KKR Global Institute
• Bastian Hermisson, Heinrich Böll Foundation
• Moderator: David Livingston, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Session 3: Beyond Brussels—U.S. Engagement with Key EU Member States        

• Ernest Wyciszkiewicz, Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding
• David Koranyi, Atlantic Council
• Moderator: Rebecca Bertram, Heinrich Böll Foundation