The new EU External Energy Policy: an important move - if it is not too late

By Alexander Mirtchev

 With the adoption of its new External Energy Policy, the EU has finally made a first step towards its integration as a single negotiating bloc in the world energy market. As such the External Energy Policy could become an important factor in the global energy security picture and a possible geopolitical game-changer. However, it remains to be seen whether the big EU member states will be willing to subordinate their interests to the wider EU interest. The External Energy Policy has probably come five years too late, argues Alexander Mirtchev, President of Krull Corp. and Vice-President of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.

Euro-zone factory rebound spreads to Spain, Italy

A recovery in the euro-zone manufacturing sector broadened in August, as factory activity picked up in countries such as Spain and Italy that have suffered long downturns sparked by the region’s fiscal crisis.