The Good Neighbourliness Principle in EU External Energy Relations: The Case of Energy Transit
Forthcoming in Dimitry Kochenov and Elena Basheska (Eds.), The Principle of Good Neighbourliness in the European Legal Context (Leiden/Boston: Brill Nijhoff, 2015).
25 Pages Posted: 1 Oct 2014
Date Written: September 30, 2014
Abstract
An analysis of energy transit regulation contributes to defining the principle of good neighbourly relations under international law. Vice versa, the principle of good neighbourly relations contributes to understanding the existing regulatory architecture in the energy sector. Given the increasingly challenging relation between the EU and Russia, an analysis of energy transit under the principle of good neighbourliness is important because it helps to determine the standards of behaviour to which Russia should adhere, even in the absence of Russia’s ratification of the ECT transit regime. Taking into account the deficiencies of the existing ECT transit regime, the principle of good neighbourliness is also useful in the context of the necessary development of additional transit cooperation mechanisms. The constituting elements of good neighbourly relations provide legal support for the elaboration of new instruments for the prevention (ex ante) and resolution (ex post) of transit disputes. As highlighted by the difficulty to address the repeated Russia-Ukraine-EU transit crises, maintaining good neighbourly relations regarding energy transit requires the strengthening of the existing international transit regime.
Keywords: energy transit, EU-Russia relations, good neighbourliness
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