Oil on Troubled Waters 0

Lee Rotherham European Union

Joschka Fischer has been addressing a meeting in London this lunchtime. In addition to being a smart way to offload tiles during a scrabble competition, he also happens to be Germany's second longest serving Foreign Minister.

Ears pricked up one particular point in his speech, when he started talking about the need for the EU to be taken more seriously in Moscow. Explaining the policy, he went on that;

"Forming a European-wide gas market with a European-wide pipeline would answer that. It would be even more effective with a European Commissioner for energy security and energy foreign policy."

It does seem, however, that British taxpayers surrendering control over our North Sea reserves, and consequently the revenue that comes from them, is a ridiculous way of rewarding certain continental politicians from allowing themselves to become economically dependent upon Russian gas pipelines. Especially even after it became clear the suppliers had a habit of turning them off when winter comes.

British oil companies getting on with their business around the world might also well agree, and prefer to keep the red tape brigade at bay. Unfortunately, given some of the clauses in the EU Constitution, it seems that Mr Fischer may yet get his way.

Lee Rotherham

Lee is a Research Fellow at the TPA. Co-author of the hit Bumper Books of Government Waste, he is an extensively published EU expert and front bench adviser.

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