The EU Energy Dilemma : EU must become energy self sufficient: before trade deal talks with US continue

Shawn Donnan writes in the Financial Times: "Ask anyone in European business what the most daunting longer-term issues confronting them are and it is unlikely to take much time before they site energy costs.
Even before Vladimir Putin’s Russia turned into the EU’s most belligerent neighbor, the reality was that Europe is facing a long-term energy crisis."

"The shale oil and gas have radically lowered the cost of energy in the US and given American manufacturing a competitive boost. That has caused more than a measure of angst among European businesses as they fret over their long-term international competitiveness. One solution to many in Europe seems obvious. "

"With a vast new trade pact – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership being negotiated with the US, there is a strong case for making sure the deal helps guarantee access to that same cheap energy. "

"Moreover, as officials on both sides of the Atlantic have argued publicly, the ultimate goal of the exercise is knitting two ageing economies together as part of a strategic response to the rise of China and other emerging giants. "

"Removing the barriers to trade for a key economic ingredient surely makes sense. Mr Putin has, of course, been doing his best to help that argument in recent months via his hardening stand on Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea."

"A massive natural gas deal with China sent a signal that Russia intended to reduce its reliance on European customers. This month’s downing of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, seemingly by pro-Moscow rebels, will also undoubtedly rekindle the argument."

"The truth, however, is that a year after negotiations began, EU officials are becoming increasingly frustrated with the US over the energy component of TTIP. With good reason – discussions around one of the biggest potential prizes of the transatlantic deal are proceeding slowly."

"At the sixth round of negotiations in Brussels this month, EU officials were again pressing their case for the TTIP to include a separate “energy and raw materials” chapter. The US side, meanwhile, was again politely deferring the question.  "

The above shows once again that the present US proposals on the trade deal with the EU are self serving  and that the EU must put these talks on the back burner while they solve their energy crises by seriously developing their own alternative energy sources and finding new partners to supply oil and gas requirements.

EU-Digest

European Elections Likely to Complicate Trade Talks With U.S. - by William Mauldi

This week’s European Union election results are likely to complicate the European push to negotiate a trade agreement with the U.S., according to people following the talks.

The elections for the European Parliament showed gains for nationalist parties and politicians who want the EU to play a smaller role in the affairs of individual countries on the continent. The legislative body, which has gained greater clout in recent years, has to approve trade deals hammered out by EU officials in Brussels.
The most vocal supporter of a trade deal with the U.S., the center-right European People’s Party, is expected to hold 213 seats in the new Parliament, down from 274 seats. In turn, a swell of new, largely unaffiliated lawmakers will join the body, many of them skeptical of the EU’s scope and powers.

“The new members of the European Parliament will be more critical and demanding during the trade negotiations,” said the EU ambassador to the U.S., João Vale de Almeida.

Regulations coming out of Brussels are a frequent target of so-called euroskeptic parties, and the broader regulations that EU officials are hoping to agree upon with their Washington may face similar resistance. Another risk is the rise of anti-American rhetoric from growing groups on the far right and left.
Marine le Pen, the head of the National Front party that dominated the elections in France, called on President Francois Hollande this week  to pull the country out of the talks to form an U.S.-E.U. trade bloc, known as the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP.

The tone of the negotiations with the U.S. could be affected by which leaders are chosen for the EU’s executive body and the key trade commissioner positions in Brussels, observers say.
Last year, President Barack Obama and European leaders formally launched negotiations to form the trade bloc.

The trade and investment pact is billed as a way to clear the economic hangover of the financial crisis, set trade rules that serve as an example for emerging markets including China and reinvigorate transatlantic ties at a time when Russia is asserting itself in neighboring countries.

Almost immediately, the spying disclosures of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden soured the talks. Officials agreed to handle spying and most privacy issues outside the trade talks.

Read more: European Elections Likely to Complicate Trade Talks With U.S. - Real Time Economics - WSJ