The Role of Energy in Russia - EU Relations

Russia and European Union have been witnessing relation between ups and downs after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the same time, they possess common historical, cultural and political links. The EU and Russia are important economic partners, in particular in the field of energy. Particularly on energy. Russia enjoys rich natural gas sources and EU is a large consumer. At the top level, however, the relationship has also become irritable, essentially because of different world views of the two parties. It seems that extension of economic and commercial ties will result to interdependence and strategic partnership between Russia and EU. The EU is the largest investor in Russia and its weight has further increased, both in absolute and relative terms, after enlargement. The enlarged EU is Russia’s most important trading partner, with energy dominating Russia’s exports to the EU and manufacturing products being the EU’s major export item to Russia. To conclude, The EU and Russia will find themselves interacting on a huge agenda of common interests and concerns. They will need an ordered relationship because they are ever-closer neighbors. Furthermore, energy will create economic interdependence between EU and Russia, and it will lead to strategic partnership in the future.