EU's external energy governance: A multidimensional analysis of the southern gas corridor

The major objective of this paper is to apply a multidimensional lens to the European Union's (EU's) vision to the yet to be establish Southern Gas Corridor. I will argue that, the EU's natural gas vision towards the Caspian basin is based not only on bringing additional gas volumes to the EU markets in order to ensure physical security of supply. It is rather multidimensional external governance geared, firstly, towards absorbing all the actors along the whole value chain in to the EU's common energy regulatory framework and shifting energy provision from a bilateral political domain onto a multilateral market domain. Secondly, it is a process of diffusion of norms and values into the governance system of the energy partners. - Highlights: • EU's Southern Gas Corridor strategy is structurally embedded in its external governance. • The counterpart of the EU's energy imports is its attempt to export its acquis. • EU's energy security necessitates diffusion of norms and values to producers