A new energy policy for Europe: The significance of Ukraine

Europe’s dependence on Russia for energy is enormous. Ever since the construction of the Trans-Siberian Pipeline into Western Europe between 1982 and 1984, free and open nations have feared the leverage Russian energy exports may grant the Kremlin. Yet, Russia’s vast mineral resources and close proximity to Europe left it a natural economic partner, assuaging such fears. Today it is clear that not only did these imports give Russia undue leverage, but they directly funded the Kremlin’s expansionist agenda. Over the past 10 years, the EU has paid approximately €1 trillion for energy supplies from Russia.

Russia has been relying on the dependency of Europe on its abundant energy resources to pursue its geopolitical aims and has not shied away from weaponising them to respond to sanctions imposed on it after the reinvasion of Ukraine.  In 2021, it manipulated supply volumes to create an artificial energy crisis and unjustified growth of energy prices in the EU in order to pressure EU officials into approving its geopolitical project NordStream II and pressure EU countries into signing further long-term contracts with Russian energy providers. In 2022, it halted natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria and cut electricity supplies and gas supplies to Finland in response to sanctions imposed by the EU and Finland’s application to join NATO.

Russia’s reinvasion of Ukraine has made cutting Russian energy imports a priority for the EU. Though major steps have been taken, further action is required to ensure greater European sovereignty over energy supplies and promote the decarbonisation of the continent.

The Council on Geostrategy invites you to attend an official launch event of the report ‘ A new energy policy for Europe: The Significance of Ukraine’ and join Lord Risby, Advisory Council Chairman, Council on Geostrategy; The Rt. Hon. Philip Dunne MP, Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee; The Rt. Hon. Greg Hands MP, Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change; James Rogers, Co-Founder and Director of Research, Council on Geostrategy; Farid Safarov, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Energy, Ukraine; and Lana Zerkal, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine 2014-2019 at the Palace of Westminster, to discuss a new energy policy for Europe and the role that Ukraine can play in cutting Russia’s energy export lifeline.

Speakers

The Rt. Hon. Philip Dunne MP

• Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, House of Commons
  Philip Dunne was elected to the House of Commons at the 2005 general election for Ludlow. During his first term in Parliament (2005–2010) he was a member of the Work and Pensions Select committee, and in 2006 he was appointed to the Public Accounts Committee. In July 2016, he was appointed as Minister for State for Health, a post he held until 2018. In January 2020, Dunne was elected as chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee, spearheading the examination of government policies’ impact on the environment.

The Rt. Hon. Greg Hands MP

• Minister of State for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change
  Greg Hands was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy on 16 September 2021.He was previously Minister of State for Trade Policy in the Department for International Trade (DIT) from 13 February 2020 to 15 September 2021 and Minister of State in the Department for International Trade from 2016 to 2018. He was elected the Conservative MP for Hammersmith and Fulham in 2005, and for Chelsea and Fulham in 2010.

James Rogers

• Co-founder and Director of Research, Council on Geostrategy
  James Rogers is Co-founder and Director of Research at the Council on Geostrategy, where he specialises in geopolitics and British strategic policy. Previously, he held positions at the Henry Jackson Society, the Baltic Defence College, and the European Union Institute for Security Studies. He has been invited to give oral evidence at the Foreign Affairs, Defence, and International Development committees in the Houses of Parliament.

Farid Safarov

• Deputy Minister, Ministry of Energy of Ukraine
  Farid Safarov began working for the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure in 2018 where he rose to be Director-General of the Directorate for Digital infrastructure on transport, he served in this role role for 2 years before becoming Deputy Minister in the Department of Energy in 2021.

Lana Zerkal

• Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine, 2014-2019
  Lana Zerkal is a Ukrainian diplomat. Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for the European Integration, appointed in office in 2014. She also served for 12 years at the Ministry of Justice (Ukraine) since 2001 as the Director of the Department of International Law (2001 – 2005), Director of the State Department on Approximation of Legislation (2005 – 2011) and as the Director of the Department on Liaison with State Authorities (2011 – 2013).

Chair

Lord Risby

• Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Algeria and Lebanon, House of Lords
  Lord Risby was Member of Parliament for Bury St. Edmunds from 1992 to 1997, and for West Suffolk from 1997 to 2010. He was created a Life Peer in 2010, and currently sits in the House of Lords. From 2011 to 2015, Lord Risby was the Vice-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for East Asian Business. In November 2012, he was announced as one of nine prime ministerial trade envoys, with responsibility for Algeria and, in 2019, Lebanon. He currently sits on the International Agreements Committee in the House of Lords.

Tickets

Venue