Documents Bouckaert, Reinhilde 1 results

"The external dimension of the European Green Deal, published at the start of 2021, focuses on a just green transition, calls for the phasing out of harmful fossil fuel sub sidies and discourages further investments into fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure projects in third countries. However, since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Europe an Union has been faced with a pressing need to find alternatives for Russian gas. The attention of EU member states and of the European Commis sion turned towards fossil fuel exporters in its south ern neighbourhood - namely, Algeria and Egypt, with ener gy diplomacy doing overtime. The focus of the EU has been on concluding middle-to-long-term fossil gas contracts with partners and importing green hydrogen. The shift towards middle-to-long term fossil gas contracts coincides with a crucial moment, the COP27 in Egypt, which has been a disappointment to many. The EU's actorness, including in its neighbourhood is vital to achieving its claimed climate leadership. Nevertheless, the focus on green hydrogen could jeopardise the EU's trustworthiness. Prioritizing the export of green hydrogen to fulfil the EU's needs without con sidering those of its Southern Neighbourhood partners seems like a repetition of the mistakes the EU made during the 2000s. The EU had been previously accused by its Southern Neighbourhood of green colonialism when investing in renewable energy projects with the aim to export to EU countries, such as Desertec. Instead, the EU should focus on ‘no-regret' options such as investing in an enabling framework that meets the needs of its partners for more energy efficiency, renewable energy, and technical assistance to tackle methane leaks and to address venting and flaring. This paradigm change could liberate more fossil gas for export in the shorter term, and prevent fossil fuel lock-in for its partners while being in line with the EU's climate leadership aspirations."