ABSTRACT

This book focuses on the two intra-regional initiatives created for the development and integration of energy markets: the Energy Community and MedReg.

The Energy Community and MedReg, apart from their common strategic role in providing a much-needed stable regulatory environment for energy markets in their respective reference countries, represent examples of a diverse development of regional energy initiatives. The former is initiated by external factors and is an example of a top-down approach, whereas the latter is a voluntary bottom-up initiative of the countries involved. The way the institutional framework is built is not without consequences on the functioning and organization of the two regional initiatives.

The book assesses these different approaches and their consequences in the framework of the development of the Energy Community and MedReg, with particular reference to their impact on regional integration, energy policy and institutional change. The analysis is enriched with several case studies on the role of independent regulatory agencies, the promotion of renewable energy sources, infrastructure and interconnection development across the Mediterranean basin and the implications of exporting the EU institutional model. This book is aimed at policy makers, institutions, energy companies and academics to provide a better understanding of the economic and institutional eco-system that characterize the Mediterranean area.

part I|128 pages

Regional cooperation

chapter 1|18 pages

Multilateralism in the European neighbourhood

The case of the Central European Free Trade Agreement

chapter 2|14 pages

A Mediterranean electricity cooperation strategy

Vision and rationale

chapter 3|18 pages

Mechanisms and outcomes of the EU external energy policy

An alternative approach

chapter 6|18 pages

Regional cooperation in the Western Balkans

The eighth regional energy market in Europe

chapter 8|10 pages

Enhancing the rule of law in the Middle East and North Africa

A role for the Energy Charter Treaty

part II|33 pages

Export of the EU model

chapter 9|17 pages

Enhanced sectoral multilateralism

Will the Energy Community lead the way to a new European Neighbourhood Policy?

chapter 10|14 pages

Beyond regional cooperation

The Energy Community as an instrument of the EU external energy policy?

part III|108 pages

Case studies: Implications from the export of the EU model

chapter 16|20 pages

The diffusion of renewable energy technologies in the Mediterranean basin

State of the art and perspectives