From fossil to green: reshaping EU's energy security and diplomacy

Abstract

While aspiring to lead the green transition globally, the European Union has been forced to face its old energy security crux once again amid a rapid post-pandemic economic recovery and energy crisis. Whether the transition will be an enabler rather than an obstacle for less volatile energy dynamics will strongly depend on the EU's willingness to adopt a different approach to its energy security and diplomacy policies, which have been considerably fragmented so far. Noticeably, the green transition will contribute to substitute the current dependence on fossil fuels with a greater reliance on mineral resources, highlighting the need for a change of course. This thesis will attempt to identify the existing gaps that the EU should tackle to lay the foundations for a smoother path towards its green transition. To do so, it will follow two key interpretive categories, energy security and energy diplomacy, and compare them in specific case studies (i.e., natural gas, lithium and EV batteries) to understand their evolution. After retracing the legislative state of play in the EU, the focus will then shift to the European green agenda, with particular regard to the electrification of the mobility sector. In this framework, lithium will be taken as a major case study, with the goal to address the issues of negative externalities and civil society response vis-à-vis a resurgence of mining industries, especially in the old continent. It will finally be observed how not only the EU will have to question its approach, but there should also be a rethinking of existing power relations among all stakeholders to make such a transition acceptable in European courtyards.