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Parliamentary question - E-008113/2013Parliamentary question
E-008113/2013

VP/HR — EU-Azerbaijan relations

Question for written answer E-008113-13
to the Commission (Vice-President/High Representative)
Rule 117
Paweł Robert Kowal (ECR)

As an Eastern Partnership country and a member of the Council of Europe, Azerbaijan is one of the EU’s partners. Although the ceasefire agreement has held, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which has major implications for the stability of the Caucasus region as a whole, remains unresolved. Azeri oil and gas play an important role in the supply of energy to the EU, and the Shah Deniz 2 consortium’s recent selection of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) instead of the Nabucco West project is thus highly significant. The EU is continuing to seek to diversify its energy supply, and the decision to build the TAP, which will go through Italy, instead of the Nabucco West pipeline (through Austria), will have an impact on Central Europe’s security of energy supply. Without the Nabucco West project, which would make a major contribution to diversifying energy supply, the Central European energy market will remain a monopoly.

1. What is the extent of the EU’s involvement in mediation efforts being conducted in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

2. What security implications does the decision to build the TAP rather than the Nabucco West pipeline have for Central Europe?

3. What are the EU’s priorities for energy cooperation with Azerbaijan? Have they changed as a result of the Shah Deniz 2 consortium's decision?

OJ C 65 E, 05/03/2014