Turkey, Azerbaijan and the Southern Gas Corridor: Conference report of a debate organised by Ifri’s Energy Program in cooperation with Clingendael International Energy Program, 26 May 2009, Brussels

Summary:

After the Prague summit “Southern Corridor - New Silk Road” on May 8, there were press reports about “major breakthroughs” concerning the pipeline project Nabucco. As the substance of agreements have not been made public, it is difficult to assess the extent of these breakthroughs. It was announced that the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) will be signed by the end of June - this would indeed constitute an important step forward. It seems that the potential breakthrough is mainly that the parties involved have now agreed that some of the more detailed questions will not be dealt with in the IGA, but will be left to commercial agreements. Questions arose about the division of responsibilities between EU member states and the community level (i.e. the European Commission). These require clarification but should not erode solidarity among member states or distract from the strategic interest that the European Union has in enhancing gas market diversity in Southern Corridors.