Abstract
The Leviathan natural gas field has become a significant energy source for surrounding states in the eastern Mediterranean such as Lebanon, Cyprus, Syria, Israel, Jordan and Turkey. Tensions in the particular area cause this resource to be exploited on a low efficiency level both when it comes to utilization and organized cooperation between states helping their economies to benefit from the trade in this natural resource. This article analyses the current tendencies towards the expansion of the regulatory frameworks already functional in Mediterranean states west of the Levantine basin and simultaneously aims to give an assessment of these efforts. The main goal is to thoroughly evaluate the appropriateness of the existing cooperative methods and legal solutions regarding energy trade on an open market between developed states for countries with different political interests in a highly unstable area of constant sociological and political turbulence. Overcoming these challenges through legal, economic and political measures is key to the success of the eastern Mediterranean countries’ energy future, also in light of their relationship with and within the European Union (EU). It is also essential that the EU obtains increasing influence in its role in the region, in particular, that EU Member States really start acting as a whole in their external relations in general and in the energy field.
Full PaperPaolo Davide Farah
Founder, President and Director
Professor Paolo Davide Farah is Founder, President and Director of gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives forSustainable Development, Full Professor(with tenure) at West Virginia University, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences,John D. Rockefeller IV School of Policy and Politics, Department of Public Administration and “Internationally Renowned Professor/Distinguished Professor of Law” (Full Professor level) at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), Law School, Beijing, China.
Riccardo Tremolada
Research Associate
Since March 2013, Riccardo has been a Research Associate at gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development. Riccardo works as an Associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. He joined the firm in Rome in 2013 and was resident in the Milan office in 2017 and in the Washington D.C. office in 2018.
Summary
The Leviathan natural gas field has become a significant energy source for surrounding states in the eastern Mediterranean such as Lebanon, Cyprus, Syria, Israel, Jordan and Turkey. Tensions in the particular area cause this resource to be exploited on a low efficiency level both when it comes to utilization and organized cooperation between states helping their economies to benefit from the trade in this natural resource. This article analyses the current tendencies towards the expansion of the regulatory frameworks already functional in Mediterranean states west of the Levantine basin and simultaneously aims to give an assessment of these efforts. The main goal is to thoroughly evaluate the appropriateness of the existing cooperative methods and legal solutions regarding energy trade on an open market between developed states for countries with different political interests in a highly unstable area of constant sociological and political turbulence. Overcoming these challenges through legal, economic and political measures is key to the success of the eastern Mediterranean countries’ energy future, also in light of their relationship with and within the European Union (EU). It is also essential that the EU obtains increasing influence in its role in the region, in particular, that EU Member States really start acting as a whole in their external relations in general and in the energy field.
