Algeria, a Leading Regional Player in the Energy Sector
The European Parliament is offering Algeria, which it describes as a “leading regional player in the energy sector,” a framework for cooperation encompassing several sectors. This comes at a time when the two sides have yet to adopt the Partnership Priorities for the period 2021-2027, due to the ongoing dispute over Algeria’s legitimate demands to revise the Association Agreement that entered into force in 2005.
An updated document on the European Parliament’s website describes Algeria as “a leading regional player, a major energy producer, and an important southern partner of the European Union.” This description is part of the document’s profile of the EU’s southern neighbours, which participate in Brussels’ “Neighbourhood Policy,” a policy the EU relies heavily on to build bridges with countries of the south.
According to the European Parliament’s profile of Algeria, “Since 2013, Algeria has also participated in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Given the close relationship between the two parties in the energy sector, they launched the EU-Algeria Strategic Energy Partnership in 2015.”
The European Union is counting on Algeria to help meet its energy needs, particularly gas, especially given the global crisis affecting this vital resource due to events in the Gulf. The document stated that the renewable energy partnership with Algeria is expected to help the EU achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, a long-held ambition of Brussels.
The document noted that the European Union and Algeria have not yet been able to “adopt the Partnership Priorities for the period 2021-2027.” However, it affirmed that “work continues based on those adopted at the Partnership Council meeting in March 2017,” pending agreement on a new roadmap in the near future.
The priorities of the partnership that the European Union is relying on in its dealings with Algeria, which it calls the “renewed framework,” are: “political cooperation and its strengthening, with a focus on: first, governance and fundamental rights; second, socio-economic development and trade; third, energy, the environment, and climate change; fourth, strategic and security dialogue; and fifth, the human dimension, migration, and the movement of people,” an issue that has troubled Europeans for many years.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced, about two years ago (in 2024), the Algerian authorities’ desire to review the partnership agreement, after he considered it unbalanced in trade relations. This demand is still awaiting a response from the European side, despite clauses in the agreement that allow the affected party to call for a review. It should be noted that Algeria has lost nearly 30 billion euros over two decades due to this unfair partnership and the weakness of the Algerian negotiator at the beginning of the current millennium with the European side.
