Brussels, 04/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The new enhanced partnership and cooperation agreement between the EU and Kazakhstan, to replace the previous agreement which dates from 1999, will contain an important section on energy cooperation. With a view to the coming on stream of the Southern Gas Corridor and the Nabucco gas pipeline which will carry gas from the Caspian region and Central Asia to the EU without passing through Russia, the EU is keen on rapprochement with Kazakhstan, which also has gas reserves. This would also pave the way for possible involvement by the country in the trans-Caspian gas pipeline project in the future.
The enhanced partnership and cooperation agreement, negotiations on which will begin between the Commission and Kazakhstan next week, will contain a section devoted to energy, said Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, who was taking part in an energy forum in Astana, the Kazakh capital on Tuesday 4 October. “Within the framework of the new cooperation agreement, we have the opportunity to further deepen our energy cooperation with the signing of a binding agreement”, he said. The new agreement will also make provision for cooperation in the areas of nuclear energy, clean coal, energy efficiency and sources of renewable energy, Oettinger's staff said, in an attempt to clear up any possible misunderstandings.
Central Asian media have seized on Oettinger's comments to suggest that Kazakhstan will join the trans-Caspian gas pipeline project, on which the Commission has been authorised by member states to negotiate an agreement with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on the legal framework for a system of gas pipelines under the Caspian Sea linking the two countries. In turn, this system will be linked to infrastructure - Nabucco - which will carry Central Asian gas to the EU. “For the EU, such a pipeline will be a very important contribution to the development of the Southern Gas Corridor”, Oettinger said on Tuesday. “This shows how much the EU appreciates this project and cooperation in the region. We would welcome Kazakhstan's participation in the Southern Corridor in the future”, he added simply. (EH/transl.rt)