The European Union oil dependency: a threat to economic growth and diplomatic freedom

Abstract

Purpose This paper provides a general review of the current energy dependency of the European Union (EU) and the possible threat that it poses to economic growth and diplomatic freedom. Design/methodology/approach Systematic literature review with a narrative approach to analyze historical data, statistics and energy policies and determine if the EU oil dependency represents a threat to economic growth and diplomatic freedom. In addition, a review of the US policy “America first” is also included to analyze its impact on the EU. Findings The energy dependency rate of the EU increased 12 percentage points from 1990 to 2018. Russia has become the largest oil supplier for the EU tripling Norway, the largest supplier in the 1990s. The oil dependency of the EU on Russia is a difficult situation where guaranteed energy supply and diplomatic freedom becomes a national political controversy. Even though the USA is currently a top world exporter of oil, the EU does not rely on the USA. The findings suggest that the EU needs to secure a reliable energy supplier to guarantee economic growth, reduce energy scarcity and enhance diplomatic freedom. Originality/value This paper provides a historical examination of the EU oil dependency considering its impact on economic growth and diplomatic freedom.

Investigating the energy security performance, productivity, and economic growth for the EU

“…To contribute to EG, the EU must reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, discover alternative energy T A B L E 4 The ES performance measurement results of the developing EU countries via the MARCOS, CODAS, and SAW methods (2014-2018) sources, and, most significantly, focus on RES. 81 We observe an intertemporal trend of dependent and independent variables in the EU region over the last two decades. Figure 2 demonstrates that our forecast indicators used in this study are compatible with parameter coefficients.…”

“…In the EU, we also see a negative relationship between import dependency and EG; import dependency increasing by 1% results in a 0.09% decrease in GDP per capita. To contribute to EG, the EU must reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, discover alternative energy sources, and, most significantly, focus on RES 81 . Figure 2 also shows the average change in independent and dependent variables across the period of study.…”

Crude Oil Market Functioning and Sustainable Development Goals: Case of OPEC++-Participating Countries

“…Although there is more research on the relationship between economic growth and sustainability, it should be noted that the roles of oil production and refining, and their impact on the environment, are still unclear. Moreover, few studies consider the case of oil-dependent resource economies, particularly countries with developing economies, such as members of OPEC, characterized by high levels of investments in the oil industry alone, the absence of rigid legislative norms of environmental protection, and the total dependence of economic growth on the level of oil production, oil prices and export volumes [31,32].…”