FES POLICY PAPER Alica Kizeková The EU’s Tightrope Walk to Energy Cooperation with Central Asia Are they heading towards an enhanced cooperation? 1 INTRODUCTION This paper addresses the EU’s engagements with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in Central Asia in the energy sector in the era of geopolitical instability and the heightened focus on energy security, diversification of ener­gy supply and energy transition. The states in Central Asia could play an important role in the EU’s quest to fulfill its energy needs. Furthermore, some actors voice positive pro-climate rhetoric claiming ambitious renewable energy targets that could be seen as a potential bridge for a more substantive co­operation with the EU. However, despite the potential and al­ready signed joint agreements, the EU has not taken the full ad­vantage of the regional resource potential. Why does this still feel like an uncompleted mission? Are there promising pros­pects for overcoming the current obstacles and achieving the energy transition goals? First, the EU lacks a rigorous diplomatic profile in the region and has been more focused on issues arising in its near neighbor­hood or elsewhere. Second, in Central Asia, there are trends that prevent this cooperation in energy transition to progress because there has been a very slow or no phasing-out of fossil fuels. The key stakeholders in the energy sector wish to gain revenues from the energy trade in coal, gas and oil from various actors. There are also multiple international actors who individ­ually or within joint projects provide resources and assistance and as such the local governments and organizations are not motivated to start the complex applications for EU funding, es­pecially if they may be limited or shared with other countries in the greater Central Asia. Moreover, the EU is facing competition from China and Russia, and increasingly from other actors such as India, Iran, Turkey, Japan or the USA. These obstacles tend to make the Union and its individual member states tread more carefully when committing time and investments in the region. Nevertheless, well-informed EU representatives and adjust­ments in approaches to the local environments could effective­ly address these barriers. Ultimately, both geographical spaces share the energy transition goals set out to increase the share of renewable energy sources by 2030 and ultimately by 2050. The EU has made commitments in its S­trategy on Central Asia (2019) to help the region to transition towards a low-carbon economy, energy efficiency and engagement in projects on re­newable energy and to facilitate electricity interconnections. The Union declared Central Asia as a“key region in resources” with a potential in hydroelectric, solar and wind energy. Brussels additionally stated that it would use its energy program EU4En­ergy to help countries in Central Asia to fully tap into their en­ergy potential and ensure energy security. With good planning, workable timelines and consistent funding which also targets spheres that might be less attractive for competitors, or the competitors are not fully or able to contribute, especially in times of geopolitical tensions, could move the EU-Central Asia energy cooperation forward and closer to achieving the energy transition goals. Such activities include and are not limited to joint projects in capacity-building in energy project manage­ment and finance, work with smaller energy communities and vulnerable groups, as well as breaking the stereotypes in financ­ing and more empowerment of women in energy sector.