Auf dem Weg zu einer gemeinsamen EU-Energiepolitik? Debatten über Energiesicherheit in Polen und Deutschland

Das aktuelle Konzept einer europäischen »Energie-Union«, das auf eine Initiative des amtierenden Präsidenten des Europäischen Rates, Donald Tusk, in seiner Zeit als polnischer Ministerpräsident zurückgeht, betont die Bedeutung regionaler Kooperation für die europäische Energiepolitik und insbesondere auch die Versorgungssicherheit. Dieser Beitrag untersucht mit Blick auf Polen und Deutschland, inwiefern unterschiedliche Interpretationen und Formulierungen von Energiesicherheit in den beiden Mitgliedsstaaten der Europäischen Union (EU) die Entwicklung einer gemeinsamen europäischen Energiepolitik behindern. Deutschland und Polen nehmen in der Energiedebatte der EU eine hervorgehobene Stellung ein. Obwohl sie im Bereich der Energiesicherheit in vielen Fällen mit ähnlichen Herausforderungen konfrontiert sind, vertreten sie aufgrund divergierender Interpretationen häufig unterschiedliche politische Lösungen

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Deconstructing the "energy weapon": Russia's threat to Europe as case study

As the likelihood increases that Russia will dominate the European Union's (EU) energy supply, questions have emerged as to whether Russia would use the energy weapon to influence EU member policies and extract political concessions. Countervailing voices argue that Russia would be restricted by interdependence and market forces. As of yet, no one has analyzed the assumptions underlying the energy weapon thesis. Moreover, many scholars examining EU-Russian energy relations rely on non-Russian data. This article seeks to fill several informational and theoretical gaps by including Russian sources and first-hand data and by systematically analyzing the conditions that must obtain before an energy supplier can successfully convert its energy resources into political power. The resulting model can be utilized to analyze the capacity of a supplier to use the energy weapon'whether it be Russia, Iran, Venezuela or any other energy heavyweight'and to assess whether the deployment was successful. Five purported cases of Russian manipulation are analyzed in this article and the findings indicate that, more often than not, Russia failed to achieve political concessions. Looking to the future, the plausibility of Russia using the energy weapon to exploit Europe's dependence, particularly on gas, is also examined.Energy weapon Supply security Russia

Outcomes and strategies in the ‘New Great Game’: China and the Caspian states emerge as winners

The decades-long struggle for control over oil and natural gas resources, infrastructure and influence in the Caspian region has been referred to as the ‘New Great Game’, with Europe, China, the US and Russia typically cited as the main combatants. We explore recent developments and aver that, if present trends continue, Europe will have access to Azerbaijan's resources, China to those of the East Caspian states, the US will stay commercially and strategically engaged, and Russia's influence will (continue to) diminish. How did this unexpected turn of events arise? We examine China's dominance and argue that the foreign policies of the US and Russia – within the region and even further abroad – have inadvertently driven the East Caspian states and China towards each other. Wary of potential maritime chokepoints in the Pacific, China feels strongly compelled to shore up resources and influence in the Caspian region. In part because of Russia's intransigence regarding the Caspian Sea's status, the East Caspian states – faced with constrained access to the West – have turned to China as an alternative market and counterbalance to Russia