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Italy, Russia and the Great Reconfiguration in East-West Energy Relations

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Andrea Prontera at University of Macerata
Andrea Prontera
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Abstract

Italy is the second largest market for Russian gas in the EU, and Italy-Russia energy relations stretch back to the Cold War period. By developing an original framework for the study of the politics of producer-consumer cooperation based on an international political economy approach and the analytical concept of forms of state, this article examines the origins, evolution and current features of Italy-Russia dyadic energy relations. This analysis, in turn, offers an important contribution to the study of EU-Russia relations and sheds light on the reconfiguration of East-West gas interdependence within the context of the integration and liberalisation of the EU energy sector. You can download this article here: https
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Europe-Asia Studies
Italy, Russia and the Great Reconfiguration in East–West Energy Relations
Andrea Prontera
Abstract. Italy is the second largest market for Russian gas in the EU, and Italy–Russia energy
relations stretch back to the Cold War period. By developing an original framework for the study of
the politics of producer–consumer cooperation based on an international political economy
approach and the analytical concept of forms of state, this article examines the origins, evolution
and current features of Italy–Russia dyadic energy relations. This analysis, in turn, offers an
important contribution to the study of EU–Russia relations and sheds light on the reconfiguration of
East–West gas interdependence within the context of the integration and liberalisation of the EU
energy sector.
You can download this article here:
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/JRPCBKIUVSXHSNSK2ETI/full?
target=10.1080/09668136.2020.1767759
To cite this article: Andrea Prontera (2020): Italy, Russia and the Great Reconfiguration in East–
West Energy Relations, Europe-Asia Studies, DOI: 10.1080/09668136.2020.1767759
... Although it is quite common for energy crises to cause shifts in state-market relations, I illustrate this dynamic evolution by specifying and discussing three different forms of state which exemplify three different patterns of state-market relations in the energy realm: the partner state, the regulatory state and the catalytic state (Prontera 2017(Prontera , 2018(Prontera , 2021. Specifically, I argue that after a period during which Italian energy security resembled the catalytic state model, the war in Ukraine favoured a shift back towards the partner state. ...
... Randall (2005), for example, has described the US experience in the oil sector, from World War II to the 1990s, recurring to the model of the associational state. Conversely, in a series of previous works, I have contrasted the models of the partner state, regulatory state and catalytic state to illustrate the origins and transformations of the politics of energy security in Western Europe amid the process of European integration in the natural gas sector (Prontera 2017(Prontera , 2018(Prontera , 2021 (Table 1). ...
... The Italian partner state was instrumental in the structuration of East-West energy relations during the Cold War (Prontera 2021). After World War II, Italy created a state-owned energy company -Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (ENI) -with the statutory goal of 'promoting and enforcing initiatives in the national interest in the field of hydrocarbons and natural gas' (Law No. 136 of 10 February 1953). ...
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... It is particularly relevant for Italy, since the country is not only economically connected to the region, but also heavily relies on Ukraine and Russian commodities (Paill, 2023). In addition, Italy is one of the most exposed European countries to potential disruptions due to its reliance on the Ukrainian gas corridor and the relevant role of gas in the Italian energy mix (Prontera, 2021). ...
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... Why were European right-wing populists so charmed with Russia and its leader? For populists in government in some countries, it was a geostrategic necessity: countries like Hungary and Italy have long been dependent on Russia for energy (Prontera, 2021). For others, particularly populists who opposed the cultural pluralism that liberal democracy embraces, it meant lining up with, and receiving recognition from, an international actor that helped prove that less pluralist notions of democracy might be a viable alternative. ...
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