Is the European Union an Energy Actor in Relations with Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries?
Abstract
The main aim of the article is to analyze the EU energy relations with
several current (Angola, Gabon and Nigeria) and potential energy suppliers
(Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya) in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2007-2017,
with an emphasis on the potential for energy security enhancement. The
purpose of the article is to find out if the EU is perceived in Sub-Saharan
Africa as an indispensable actor of the international energy relations, or
whether these energy relations are still the domain of individual EU
Member States. At the same time, the article further analyzes the goals,
interests and tools that the EU is pursuing and using in its energy policy
towards Sub-Saharan Africa. The article uses the concept of a modified form
of the EU's external energy actorness based on three criteria: (1) the
perception of the actor by a third party, (2) the policy goals and interests,
and (3) the resources and policy tools.
Keywords
European Union, Sub-Saharan Africa, energy, actorness, oil, gas
Supplementary File(s)
Příloha - Appendix - seznam analyzovaných článků (Czech)Author Biography
Lukáš Tichý
Lukáš Tichý, born in 1982, is a coordinator of the Centre for Energy Policy and a
researcher at the Institute of International Relations Prague. He lectures at
Metropolitan University Prague. His fields of interest include energy
security of the EU and Russia, Russian foreign and security policy, energy
security, discourse analysis, terrorist attacks on energy sectors, EU–Russia
relations and the theories of international relations. He has published
several articles in domestic and foreign journals, including Energy Policy,
International Politics, Middle East Policy, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, and
Asia-Europe Journal, as well as some conference proceedings and
monographs.
Jan Prouza
Jan Prouza, born in 1984, has completed the M.A. program in Political Science – African
Studies at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Hradec Králové and
the doctoral program International Relations and European Studies at
Metropolitan University Prague and the Institute of International Relations Prague. During his M.A. studies, he spent one semester at the University of
Ghana. Since then, he has been repeatedly visiting it because Ghana has
become one of his major scientific interests. In his publications he focuses
also on the West Africa region, African conflicts and African political systems
in general. Since 2009 he has been working as an assistant professor at the
Department of Politics of the Philosophical Faculty of the University of
Hradec Králové. Presently, he is also an assistant professor at the
Department of International Relations and European Studies, Metropolitan
University Prague.