Guardian: The EU’s Plan for an Energy Union Would Call Vladimir Putin’s Bluff

How many of us, as European citizens, turn on the gas to cook something and reflect that we are part of an enormous geopolitical and environmental picture? But we are. Europe’s energy dilemmas go back to the 1970s and 80s, when decisions were made to build huge gas infrastructure networks connecting the west of the continent to the Soviet Union’s gas fields. At the time, US presidents Jimmy Carter and then Ronald Reagan expressed worries that such plans would place European allies under Moscow’s sway. Fast forward to 2015 and the Ukrainian crisis: the latest message on Europe’s need to find smart ways to use energy and wean itself off its dependency on Russia’s Gazprom has just come from the European commission, with a new policy paper outlining ambitions for a European energy union.

One of the reasons Europe has been so ineffective in dealing with Vladimir Putin is that it never quite anticipated to what degree he would use the energy card to further Russia’s nationalist goals. The question is: can Europe get it right now?

Read the full article HERE.