EU Energy policies towards the Mediterranean

North African countries are experiencing an unprecedented set of political, economic, social and demographic changes that are likely to significantly modify the energy needs in the region. To face this evolution, their governments will need to review their energy strategies, focusing on sustainability and efficiency policies, but avoiding the risk of generating transitional costs too high for their weak economies.
The project analyzed the regional energy trends and evaluated the energy policies adopted by governments to cope with an evolving situation. At the same time, taking into consideration the initiatives adopted by the EU in the region, the research tried to identify new policy options to strengthen inter- and intra-regional cooperation, and to propose them in light of the Italian semester of Presidency of the EU. The project focused on the country studies of Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, and was concluded by the international conference on "Italy's Perspectives on Forging a New EU-North Africa Energy Pact", held in Rome on 18 November 2014 and organized under the Italian Presidency of the EU Council.