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Azerbaijan: Strategic Partnership Instead of Europeanisation

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The EU’s Neighbourhood Policy towards the South Caucasus

Part of the book series: The European Union in International Affairs ((EUIA))

Abstract

This chapter deals with the expansion of the European security community to incorporate Azerbaijan within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). It addresses the main issues affecting the definition of Azerbaijan’s modern identity and the central role played by both energy and the Karabakh conflict in the evolution of its foreign and security policies. The chapter maps and traces the evolution of perceptions towards European integration and puts forward generalisations regarding the mechanisms of ideational change set in motion through institutional cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Azerbaijan in the context of the ENP and the Eastern Partnership (EaP).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    On 20 September 1994, after three and a half years of negotiations, Azerbaijan and a consortium of foreign oil companies signed a production sharing contract to develop Azerbaijan’s Caspian oil reserves. The international consortium, the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), was established in 1995 and included 11 major international companies: BP (UK), Amoco (US), LUKoil (Russia), Pennzoil (later Devon of US), UNOCAL (US), Statoil (Norway), McDermott (US), Ramco (Scotland), TPAO (Turkey), Delta Nimir (later Amerada Hess of US) and SOCAR (Azerbaijan). Since then Exxon, later ExxonMobil (US), ITOCHU (Japan) and INPEX have joined the consortium. McDermott, Ramco and LUKoil have since sold their shares.

  2. 2.

    The number of refugees and IDPs has decreased. According to official numbers from the Azerbaijani government, in April 2008 there were 572,531 IDPs in the country, living mainly in Baku, Fizuli, Sumgait and Barda (IDMC 2008, p. 41). Numbers for 2014 indicate 597,429 IDPs (IDMC 2014).

  3. 3.

    This point was made by Tabib Huseynov, an Azerbaijani analyst with the International Crisis Group in an email exchange, on 6 May 2009.

  4. 4.

    The Southern Gas Corridor is a central tool in the EU’s energy diversification strategy, looking to bring gas from the Caspian, Central Asia and the Middle East to European markets. The main infrastructure constituting this Gas Corridor are the South-Caucasus pipeline from Azerbaijan via Georgia to Turkey; the Trans-Anatolian pipeline, crossing Turkey and connecting Georgia with Europe; and the Trans-Adriatic pipeline, transporting gas from the Turkish border via Greece and Albania to Italy. Energy from the Shah Deniz II gas field in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea will provide the largest share of the gas required for this project.

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  1. Faculty of Economics and Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Licínia Simão

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Simão, L. (2018). Azerbaijan: Strategic Partnership Instead of Europeanisation. In: The EU’s Neighbourhood Policy towards the South Caucasus. The European Union in International Affairs. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65792-9_6

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