Summary : In recent years, the United States’ natural gas industry has undergone a significant transformation, dubbed a 'revolution': extraction rates have soared thanks to new technologies. The shale gas boom is having an unprecedented affect on the US energy market, and this, in turn, has important implications for the rest of the world, notably the Middle East and Russia. While the shale gas 'revolution' has spurred a debate on environmental consequences and sustainability within the US, other countries — including countries as diverse as Canada and China — have, in different ways, aimed to replicate the US boom. In the EU, a shale gas 'revolution' appears relatively unlikely, at least for the moment, given Europe’s less favourable geological conditions and its wary public. Nevertheless, some EU Member States rich in shale gas, such as Poland and the United Kingdom, are actively promoting shale gas exploration activities to diversify their energy mix, reduce energy dependency and enhance energy security. Other countries, such as France and Bulgaria, have for the moment chosen to privilege environmental constraints and have implemented bans. The remaining Member States seem to have adopted a 'wait-and-see' attitude. For all these states, however, the EU has an important role to play in ensuring a balanced common approach and encouraging the sustainable development of this industry while ensuring an adequate environmental protection. A recent Commission green paper on shale gas is a good initial step, although this should be followed with concrete action.

Authors : Jacopo BELLELLI supervised by Wanda TROSZCZYNSKA-VAN GENDEREN (Policy Department, Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union, European Parliament)

Committees : Foreign affairs

Summary : With the launch of the Eastern Partnership in 2009, the EU stepped up its involvement in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus. The offer of a closer relationship with Eastern neighbours is contingent upon partner countries converging with EU norms and standards. Effective regulatory approximation in the economic field is therefore critical to anchoring the reform process in partner countries and to fostering further progress in EU’s relations with its Eastern neighbours. Against this backdrop, this briefing paper reviews the achievements to date in regulatory approximation in the economic field in Eastern Partnership countries. Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTAs) are a vital trade instrument for building up long-term economic relationships with eastern neighbours. They are likely to have a far-reaching influence on the reform process in partner countries. However, legal approximation and implementation of approximated legislation remain key challenges. The briefing highlights five major problems hindering legal approximation in the economic field: the complexity of the acquis to be adopted; institutional coordination; implementation capacities; costs of approximation and political sensitivity in partner countries. The briefing offers recommendations to improve the EU’s approach so that DCFTAs could fulfill their potential.

Authors : Laure DELCOUR (IRIS) and Kataryna WOLCZUK (Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham)

Committees : Foreign affairs

Summary : Under the terms of the 1993 Oslo peace accords, over 60 % of the occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank remains under full Israeli military and administrative control. Here, in what is known as 'Area C', Israel restricts Palestinians' access to land and resources by instituting systemic segregation, forcibly evicting and displacing Palestinian residents, demolishing civilian property and expanding Israeli settlements. Israeli law applies in the area, and Israeli control is gradually reinforced. Amounting to de facto annexation, the Israeli's government's measures are in clear violation of international law. The situation is undermining hopes for a two-state solution, effectively creating a single-state with only isolated 'islands' ('Area A') under Palestinian rule. The situation has recently grown more dire, as the most committed proponents of Area C's unilateral annexation have entered Israel’s new government coalition. Although Israel’s encroachment into Area C has long been condemned by the European Union, efforts to improve the situation are continually undermined. Nothing of substance has been accomplished to implement the minimal recommendations set out by the EU's 2011 report on Area C. While the EU has expressed its concern about the state of affairs, decisive effective action is long overdue.

Authors : Nasser ISHAQ and Pekka HAKALA (European Parliament, Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union, Policy Department)

Committees : Foreign affairs

Summary : Tamman Salam is in charge of forming a new cabinet in Lebanon after the resignation of Prime Minister Mikati on 22 March 2013. Prime Minister Mikati resigned over his government's failure to adopt a new electoral law and its refusal to extend the mandate of police chief Ashraf Rifi. With no agreement on a new electoral law, forming a new government coalition is impossible. The scheduled June date for elections also appears unlikely. Lebanon has maintained an official policy of disassociation from the Syrian civil war, but the country is seriously affected by the deteriorating crisis. More than 400 000 Syrian refugees reside in Lebanon, and the northern city of Tripoli has suffered from sectarian clashes that have spilt over from Syria. Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam is struggling to form a cabinet, while rival political factions fail to agree on a new electoral law. The current parliament's mandate could be extended beyond June 2013. The European Union should reiterate its support for Lebanon's independence, territorial integrity and national institutions.

Authors : Shereen DBOUK under the supervision of Pekka HAKALA (PE, DG EXPO, Policy Department EXPO)

Committees : Foreign affairs

Summary : On 21 March, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan's Workers' Party, the PKK, called for a truce with the government of Turkey. For nearly three decades, the 'Kurdish issue' has dogged Turkish politicians and the country's Kurdish minority. PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan repeated the words of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's — 'now let weapons be silenced and ideas talk' — and added, 'this is not an end but a new beginning'. In exchange for the PKK fighters' retreat, Turkey's 15 million Kurds would gain wider constitutional recognition. The peace process is likely to involve three stages. PM Erdoğan was the first Turkish government leader to address the Kurdish question by proposing to expand Kurds' rights. His 2009 'democratic initiative' represented a window of opportunity...but the window was rapidly shut. An air strike in 2011 damaged the shaky confidence between the PKK and the Turkish government. Dialogue remained difficult until the end of 2012, when talks were reopened. The EU's progress reports on Turkey have called for Kurds to enjoy greater rights. The EP has called on Turkey to invest greater efforts in finding a political solution for the Kurdish issue. Necessary reforms — in particular to protect minorities — could put Turkey's EU accession process on track. The latest developments have made many in Turkey optimistic that this will prove an historic opportunity.

Authors : Sandro D'ANGELO and Beyza AYBAT

Committees : Foreign affairs

Summary : While the international community remains unable to solve the two-year-old Syrian crisis, the humanitarian crisis grows: the number of refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries stands at one million. Internally displaced people number three million, and the dead 70 000 — not to mention the damage wrought on cities and villages, including many of great historical and cultural significance. What began as a small pro-democracy protest has evolved into a civil war complicated by sectarian strife. The Syrian opposition lacks unity and includes jihadist elements. So long as the international community also remains divided — and so long as Russia, Iran and Iran’s ally Hezbollah continue to unconditionally support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — the conflict's grim statistics are bound to worsen. The EU, which cannot claim to have acted more decisively or righteously than its partners at the UN, is assuming a leading role in delivering humanitarian assistance to the victims of the war within Syria and in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Any military intervention is excluded — at least for the time being — but efforts to find a political solution will require cooperating intensively with Russia — a significant challenge, but one that can no longer be set aside.

Authors : Shereen DBOUK and Pekka HAKALA European Parliament, Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union, Policy Department)

Committees : Foreign affairs

Summary : Nearly five thousand Palestinians are held by Israel in a 'parallel' justice system reserved for those accused of offenses against the state. Instead of entering the Palestinian legal system, these prisoners are tried by Israel's military courts and often held in Israel, in conditions that violate international humanitarian and human rights conventions. Children and elected officials are among them, subject to ill-treatment — including prolonged solitary confinement, abuse and a lack of due process— by Israeli military authorities. A number of prisoners have gone on hunger strike and increasing numbers of protestors have demonstrated to demand that Israel guarantee basic prisoners' rights and end its deplorable prison conditions and indefinite detention without charges or fair trial. One prisoner has been on strike for more than 200 days; he and a number of others are in critical condition and require urgent medial treatment. While the United Nations and other international bodies have condemned Israel's systematic ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners as a blatant violation of international law, the situation has only recently attracted widespread international calls for action. The European Union has expressed its concern, but action is now required.

Authors : Nasser ISHAQ under supervision of Pekka HAKALA (European Parliament, Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union, Policy Department)

Committees : Foreign affairs

Summary : Financial appraisal note requested by the Committee for Foreign Affairs (AFET) on the European Commission's report “European Institute of Peace: costs, benefits and options". The note provides a representation of the possible costs of establishing a European Institute for Peace under the legal forms of an association, a foundation or an international organization. This entails, in broad terms: costs of establishment and operations, possible funding route, risks and uncertainties of the various options. Cost-benefit conclusions are drawn from the quantification analysis.

Authors : Huib Poot, Max vanderSleen, Ferry Philipsen and Achim Vogt

Committees : European Added Value, Foreign affairs

Summary : The Southern Caucasus region matters to the European Union for economic, energy and political reasons. Yet the states of the Southern Caucasus — Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia — are also important to their southern neighbour, Iran. Realpolitik in the region dictates that the EU balance its relations with its local partners at the same time that Iran, sanctioned by the EU and others, makes various economic, cultural, and political inroads with its pliable neighbours. Each Southern Caucasus state has a distinct relation with the EU and with Iran. Each must set the realities of its current situation against its western aspirations. Since the adoption of sanctions against Iran in 2010 and their subsequent reinforcement, the EU has also been obliged to consider Iran's influence on regional politics. While the EU's interest in the region is based on more than its concerns about Iran, this facet of the Southern Caucasus's complicated balance of power cannot be ignored.

Authors : Aaron MISERA, under the supervision of Fernando GARCÉS DE LOS FAYOS (European Parliament, Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union, Policy Department)

Committees : Foreign affairs