High energy costs hamper EU industry - Commission

REUTERS

* EU industry share of GDP sliding as U.S. re-industrialises
* Energy commissioner seeks 'industrial compact', industry summit
* Industrial growth needs to be green, high-tech

EU nations will be left far behind the United States unless they address high energy costs that are worsening the continent's industrial decline, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

To tackle the issue the Commission, the EU executive, is preparing a policy document for later this year followed by an EU summit in February 2014 focused on industry, EU sources said.

Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani said part of the answer is an industrial compact "to address high energy prices, difficult access to credit, a drop in investments, lack of skills and red tape".

He drew a comparison with the fiscal compact signed in March 2012 by 25 EU leaders with a view to forcing euro zone countries to keep their budgets in surplus or balanced.

Economic output generated by EU industry has fallen to 15.1 percent of GDP from 15.5 percent last year, short of the 20 percent informal goal the European Union should aim for by 2020, the Commission said in a report on industrial competitiveness.

The United States, meanwhile, has been re-industrialising with the help of a cheap-energy boom following the exploitation of shale gas.

Some industry, especially the chemical sector for which gas is a feedstock as well as an energy source, has been relocating to the United States to take advantage of it.

The Commission has said natural gas prices in the European Union are roughly four times higher than in the United States. The gap could narrow, especially if the United States exports more, but that is complicated in terms of domestic politics.

EU Diplomats: "Failed Nabucco West plan still on EU priority list"

REUTERS

The Nabucco West pipeline, which lost a contest to ship Azeri gas to Europe, is still on a list of projects eligible for EU cash, implying the European Commission still believes it could be built, EU diplomats said.

The Commission, the EU executive, next month is expected to publish a final list of projects judged significant to more than one EU nation and entitled to accelerated planning approval as well as consideration for money from the EU budget.

Commission officials declined to disclose the content of the list before publication.

But the diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it included the Nabucco West scheme, led by OMV, as well as the Trans Atlantic Pipeline (TAP), which was selected to by the Shah Deniz gas consortium to carry gas to Europe.

TAP includes Norway's Statoil, BP, SOCAR, Fluyxs, Total, E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany and Swiss company.
Commission officials have repeatedly said Nabucco West is not dead and could one day be built if more Caspian gas becomes available.

Other schemes on the list of roughly 200 Projects of Common Interest include a Baltic energy grid, aimed at ending the isolation of Baltic states and curbing their reliance on Russia.

A feasibility study for a gas link from Cyprus to Crete and then Greece or Italy is also on the list.
Cyprus has high hopes of rapidly developing its gas reserves to revive its broken economy, but export routes are complicated by its long-standing rift with Turkey.

Russian gas pipeline could doom Europe's Nabucco plan

Reuters


* Europe, U.S. support for Nabucco weakened
* Azeri consortium expected to pick winner in June
* Gas due to flow to European Union from 2019

Europe's grand plan for a gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea that would make its eastern states less reliant on Russia may have been fatally undermined by Russia's even bigger project.

As Azerbaijan nears a decision on which pipeline to choose for its future exports, the Nabucco plan that was long the European Union favourite could lose out to the more modest Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) across Greece to southern Italy.

In a complex equation based on politics as much as economics, TAP is in the ascendancy over the Nabucco pipeline to Austria in the face of Russia's $39 billion South Stream plan.

"The question is: 'Is Nabucco viable if South Stream is built?'" said Andrew Neff, Moscow-based principal energy analyst with research firm IHS.

The decision between TAP and Nabucco is expected in June from partners in the Shah Deniz consortium, led by gas field operator BP and Azeri state energy company Socar.

The European Union won't have a direct say in the choice, but its recent switch to "project neutrality" from support for Nabucco could make a big difference. It now says it would be happy with either pipeline or even both.

"There has been a dramatic shift," TAP's External Affairs Director Michael Hoffmann told Reuters.

Nabucco spokesman Christian Dolezal, however, said his project retained strong political support.

Black Sea Region and Natural Gas Prospects

Natural Gas Europe

The recent international Black Sea Oil & Gas Forum held in Bulgaria highlighted culminations surrounding natural gas trade and investments in the region, which are gaining strong pace.

The president of the Bulgarian energy regulatory authority, Mrs. Evgenia Haritonova, pointed out that Bulgaria's immediate target is to increase the production of domestic natural gas while at the same time diversifying its import sources, based on the current pipeline projects, such as the Southern Corridor and the interconnectors with its neighbors - Greece, Serbia and Romania, which will be finalized within the next 18 months. Further she added that the Bulgarian government had already signed with an energy consortium comprised of the France's Total SA, Austrian OMV and Spanish Repsol to conduct research for gas in the Black Sea field of Khan Asparuh. Identical competitions with international companies will take place in due time for the offshore locations of Silistar, Sveta Marina and Teres.

Regarding shale gas, Haritonova stated that for the moment the energy Ministry is following the moratorium of the Parliament, and until it is lifted no research could be made.  It is interesting to note that Bulgaria's special advisor of the ministry of economy Petar Poptchev noted that Chevron was not so much interested in shale gas exploration, but in conventional gas.

The future of Cyprus: A troubled island story

The Economist

Its bail-out may keep Cyprus in the single currency, but at a high cost

DREAD was mixed with anger. Cypriots feared that deposits in the two largest banks, Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Bank, might be taxed or converted into worthless equity—and worried about the economic effects. The glum mood in the shops and cafés of Nicosia was little improved when the terms of their country’s €10 billion ($13 billion) bail-out emerged on March 25th. The deal will close Laiki Bank, restructure Bank of Cyprus and impose big losses in both institutions on deposits above €100,000.

Many anxious Cypriots queued patiently to draw cash out of ATMs. Others protested angrily in the streets, waved Russian flags and talked about leaving the euro. They had hoped that joining the European Union (in 2004) and the euro (in 2008) meant solidarity from their fellows. The troubles of the two banks were caused, some believe, by a decision to buy Greek government bonds that were then restructured. They feel they are being punished by the EU for no fault of their own.

Victimhood is hardly new in Cyprus: the island’s troubles are routinely blamed on outsiders like Turkey, Greece, Britain or (now) Russia. What stuck in the craw was being told that the Cypriot business model had to change. Not all agree: speaking at a conference organised by The Economist in Nicosia on March 22nd, Chris Pissarides, a Nobel-prize-winning economist, argued that relying on business services and tourism in an economy with no manufacturing tradition was quite sensible.

Turkey to the rescue Cyprus?

Timothy Ash*     The Financial Times

Greek Cypriots must be thinking that with friends like these (the EU and Russia, both seeking to extract their pound of flesh for any bail-out), who needs enemies?

Well, what if Cyprus begins to think outside the box, and what if it goes to its erstwhile enemy, Turkey, for assistance?


How about this: Turkey provides €7bn in assistance, saving Cypriot savers from the chop in exchange for Cyprus agreeing to the terms of the 2004 Annan peace plan for the unification of the island.

In return for its cash, Turkey would get agreement on the peace plan it backed back in 2004 and which was supported then by two thirds of Turkish Cypriots in an island-wide referendum. Admittedly, it was rejected by three quarters of Greek Cypriots but this was in no small part due to the intransigence of the then Papadopoulos administration.

By so doing, Turkey would save a very big chunk of the substantial aid (and significant military spending) it pumps into northern Cyprus every year, and the north would gain access to EU structural funds. Turkey would also remove a big Achilles heel in terms of its own EU accession bid, stalled by disagreement over the divided island.

Natural Gas to Cyprus

Michael J. Economides      Energy Tribune
 
The news of the Cyprus Public Natural Gas Agency, DEFA’s recent decision to include only LNG strategies and exclude CNG technologies from further negotiations for the interim delivery of natural gas to that country is shocking, illogical to the extreme, almost insulting to the intelligence of the people. It becomes even more frustrating that all is secret and it is impossible to see the rationale. But no matter what, it is totally flawed.

LNG is the obvious means of large trans-national gas transport, but for Cyprus it was a bad idea ten years ago, it was worse three years ago and it is disastrous today, just four years before the country is expected to bring on line its own plentiful supply. The situation is really very simple. The needs of Cyprus (100 million standard cubic feet per day) are not even remotely enough to justify interim LNG, stationary or floating. The only possibility for Cyprus interim solution has always been CNG; and if, for whatever reason, that is seen as unworkable, then staying with diesel, with all the associated environmental problems and EU fines is preferable, by far.

The New Mediterranean Oil and Gas Bonanza Part II: Rising energy tensions in the Aegean—Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria

F. William Engdahl      Global Research

The discovery in late 2010 of the huge natural gas bonanza off Israel’s Mediterranean shores triggered other neighboring countries to look more closely at their own waters. The results revealed that the entire eastern Mediterranean is swimming in huge untapped oil and gas reserves. That discovery is having enormous political, geopolitical as well as economic consequences. It well may have potential military consequences too.

Preliminary exploration has confirmed similarly impressive reserves of gas and oil in the waters off Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and potentially, Syria.

Greek ‘energy Sirtaki’ 

Not surprisingly, amid its disastrous financial crisis the Greek government began serious exploration for oil and gas. Since then the country has been in a curious kind of a dance with the IMF and EU governments, a kind of “energy Sirtaki” over who will control and ultimately benefit from the huge resource discoveries there. 

In December 2010, as it seemed the Greek crisis might still be resolved without the by-now huge bailouts or privatizations, Greece’s Energy Ministry formed a special group of experts to research the prospects for oil and gas in Greek waters. Greece’s Energean Oil & Gas began increased investment into drilling in the offshore waters after a successful smaller oil discovery in 2009. Major geological surveys were made. Preliminary estimates now are that total offshore oil in Greek waters exceeds 22 billion barrels in the Ionian Sea off western Greece and some 4 billion barrels in the northern Aegean Sea. [1] 

Greece Is Not Poor - It Actually Has Massive Uptapped Reserves Of Gold, Oil And Natural Gas

By Michael

It turns out that the poster child for the European debt crisis is not actually poor at all.  In fact, the truth is that the nation of Greece is sitting on absolutely massive untapped reserves of gold, oil and natural gas.  If the Greeks were to fully exploit the natural resources that are literally right under their feet, they would no longer have any debt problems.  Fortunately, this recent economic crisis has spurred them to action and it is now being projected that Greece will be the number one gold producer in Europe by 2016. 

In addition, Greece is now opening up exploration of their massive oil and natural gas deposits.  Reportedly, Greece is sitting on hundreds of millions of barrels of oil and gigantic natural gas deposits that are worth trillions of dollars.  It is truly sad that Greece should be one of the wealthiest nations in all of Europe but instead the country is going through the worst economic depression that it has experienced in modern history.  It is kind of like a homeless man that sleeps on the streets every night without realizing that a relative has left him an inheritance worth millions of dollars.  Greece is not poor at all, and hopefully the people of Greece can learn the truth about all of this wealth and chart a course out of this current mess.

I have written extensively about the nightmarish economic conditions that Greece is experiencing right now.  Just check out this article, this article and this article.  Since the depression began in Greece, the Greek economy has contracted by more than 20 percent.  In April 2010, the unemployment rate in Greece was only 11.8 percent.  Since then it has skyrocketed to 25.1 percent.

Is the new Cyprus-Greece-Israel energy triangle casting a net for Turkey?

George STAVRIS       Hürriyet Daily News

Long-running speculation over massive natural gas reserves in the tumultuous Southeastern Mediterranean and Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) became a reality in December 2011 when official research and scope reports were released.

Today, the Republic of Cyprus finds itself grappling with this mixed blessing. These rich findings can provide long-term benefits for the country but Cyprus is more like a novice treading a very slippery floor in the major leagues of global diplomacy.

A new but familiar player, the state of Israel, has made a thunderous entry into the traditionally loud trio of Greece, Cyprus and Turkey, causing significant ruptures to the balance of the neighborhood. The event that sparked Israel’s newfound interest in Cyprus was the definitive signs of massive natural gas reserves in Cyprus’ Plot No. 12 (fittingly codenamed “Aphrodite”), right next to Israel’s own EEZ and massive reserves in its “Leviathan” plot.

It became apparent right from the start that Israel naturally considered every issue as highly imbued with its own national interest. Thus the decision to collaborate in treating the extracted natural gas and then transporting it to Europe (from both countries’ plots) came as a complete formula: pipelines would be part of a joint network, a vast specialized storage terminal, valued at 10 billion euros and funded almost completely by Israel. They would be built at the Vassilikos port near Limassol and the majority of the approximately 10,000 highly skilled personnel needed would be Israelis. Naturally, additional issues have come up in the logical process of things. The project will take about six or seven years to complete and inevitably the thousands of Israeli personnel engaged in it will need to have their families near them, so the total number of Israelis in Cyprus would become even greater, at least 15,000. These Israeli citizens will need to be housed in safe and secure conditions near the working site. Any analyst can easily run the math on the size and nature of this security force.

The EU and Turkey: Stronger together By 16 EU Foreign Ministers

BY 16 EU FOREIGN MINISTERS*     euobserver.com


BRUSSELS - At a time when the EU faces economic challenges and continuing instability in the Middle East, our relationship with Turkey matters more than ever.

Last week saw the 50th EU/Turkey Association Council, which demonstrated the need to work together to promote our shared prosperity, security and values.

In these tough economic times, increasing trade with Turkey offers opportunities for EU businesses. With a GDP growth rate of 8.5 percent last year, the second fastest in the G20 after China, Turkey is now the EU’s fifth largest export market.

Turkish entrepreneurs in Europe run businesses worth €40 billion, employing half a million people. In sectors like aviation, automobiles and electronics, our economies are increasingly integrated.

Turkey is well placed to become an energy hub, with both sides benefiting from projects to build the necessary infrastructure, including development of the Southern gas corridor.

The commercial relationship is strong, but could be stronger. While EU-Turkey trade has grown steadily, Turkey's trade with other regions has grown even faster.

This is partly a symptom of the wider shift of economic power to Asia, but also reflects problems with the EU-Turkey customs union and other trade restrictions that prevent our commercial relationship from achieving its full potential.

Removing these restrictions should form an important part of wider efforts to boost economic growth, building on the recent G20 Summit and on the European Council later this week.

We welcome the very recent agreement on a path towards visa liberalisation, linked to broader co-operation on migration. This has the potential to promote trade, combat illegal immigration and support wider people to people contacts.

Here, signature by Turkey of the EU-Turkey readmission agreement would be a crucial step on the way towards fulfilling Turkish citizens' aspirations to travel more freely in Europe.

As the dialogue between the EU and Turkey on mobility and security grows, we hope to see further concrete results. In this framework, we hope Turkey will extend visa free travel to EU member states.

EU says looks to Turkey to help stabilize Mideast

Today's Zaman

President of the European Parliament has said the European Union is looking to Turkey to help stabilize the region shaken by instability and uprising since the start of this year.

Jerzy Buzek, who is visiting Turkey this week, told Turkish deputies in Parliament on Thursday that he knows from his own experiences that a falling dictatorship is both dangerous and unpredictable, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime is threatened by eight-month uprising that claimed nearly 4,000 lives. He said across the Eastern Mediterranean, not just in Syria, there are multiple flashpoints and that the 27-nation bloc is looking to Turkey to help stabilize the region. He said in recent months, Turkey’s leadership has stressed Turkey's support for the struggle for freedom across the North Africa and the Middle East and many in the Middle East regard Turkey as a source of inspiration of a successfully modernising society. He said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was the first Muslim leader to tell Egypt's Hosni Mubarak to step down. "Your leaders have travelled to Egypt, Libya and Tunisia to promote the adoption of a constitution that secures secularism. And, more recently, you opened your doors, and hearts, to the Syrian opposition," he said.

Turkey seeks EU help to avert Cyprus gas crisis

Andrew RETTMAN    EUOBSERVER

Turkey's ambassador to the EU has said member states should urge Cyprus to "see reason" in order to stop a dispute over gas exploration from getting worse.

"Europe, which has a stake in this, should say to the Greek Cypriot authorities that it is inadvisable to raise the stakes, because they are raising the stakes. We are not the ones who sarted exploration in disputed waters ... the EU can tell the Greek Cypriots they have to be reasonable," Selim Kuneralp told EUobserver in an interview on Monday (12 September).

"These are resoures that belong to both communities on the island ... and until such time as this has happened [an agreement on how to share them] we feel it is highly inappropriate for exploration to begin."

Cyprus has hired US company Noble to start drilling later this month at a 6,000-square-kilometre field called Block 12, situated under the Mediterranean Sea to the south of the island.

Cyprus has been split in two since 1974 with the Turkish military still present on the island in support of the largely unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Asked by EUobserver if Turkey would use warships to stop Noble from going ahead if necessary, Kuneralp said: "I hope it will not come to that and the Greek Cypriots will see reason ... I didn't mention warships. I think it's better to hope that reason will prevail."

Turkey on the rise in Eurasia

Jose Luis Chalhoub*     Political Scientist

Turkey is definitely gaining a greater and more important position in all the eurasian region, asserting its influence given its weight within the most important geopolitical zone of the planet. In recent years we have seen a more independent and autonomous turkey away from nato and western interference, and designing its very own foreign policy. In this sense and specifically since the beginning of  Recep Tayyip Erdogan government, turkey has been aligning itself with countries like russia, supporting iran's position on different subjects, siding with blocs like the BRICS, and the more so since turkey's highest role as a transit country of all the energy that flows from the Caspian Sea, being one example of this the BTC (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan), which has been one strategic leverage tool of the turkish government vis a vis the European Union and Washington.

Besides, Turkey has been showing a sustained economic growth on the last decade, considered one of the most prominent emerging market, and demographically and religiously this country has a lot to show in the coming years. But of course the country of Ataturk faces many challenges being them the intentions of the regional powers like Russia, Iran, India, China which also have intentions in the zone rich on energy resources besides the most important fact of the future of Washington/EU/Turkey relations, adding to that the current situation between Israel and Turkey because of energy matters on Cyprus, adding to that the long standing issues concerning Turkey on the armenian weight on capitol hill and the white house regarding turkey and the future of the turkish/greek relationship in the coming years. Russia is becoming an important ally of turkey based on energy supplies, but time will tell if this could be a true alliance given russia's own intention in the region especially in the former central asian republics which in part has turkish ethnic binds to Ankara. So after this general landscape and overview one can ask if Turkey is really going for its own role, or could strenghten russia ties within the organization of shanghai, or maybe the true intentions is to deploy a macro geopolitical strategy a la Ottomana in Eurasia? Well this highly will depend on the delicate issue of the military weight in the decision making in turkish politics in the short and medium term. Time will tell definitely.

*Caracas, Venezuela

Turkey’s Role in European Energy Security

Dr. Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu*   Natural Gas for Europe      

Ankara’s geography can help boost European energy security

An expert in European geopolitics in the Department of International Relations and the EU at Turkey’s Izmir University of Economics, Dr. Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu contended that there were some basic problems with European energy policy.

“The political reality of the European Union changes when it is faced with energy issues,” he explained. “The EU is divided into two different poles: there are the national decision making centers on one hand, and the EU institutions with powerful transnational political resources on the other. So basically in spite of the liberal inter-governmental setting, and fully integrated political policies, these two different poles mean that the EU is divided over a common energy policy.

“The main obstacle to progress in energy policy is basically the various preferences of the member states, all of which have their different domestic energy resources, different energy requirements and large, state-owned, monopolistic energy industries. All the states have different preferences.”

‘Nuclear plant can meet Cypriot energy demand’

Gökhan KURTARAN        Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

The construction of a nuclear plant in Northern Cyprus could help meet the island’s electricity demand, authorities say. Turkey is also working on an energy masterplan for Cyprus’ both sides, Turkish minister says.

Turkey’s bid to supply electricity for the whole of Cyprus has been based on two plans, building a nuclear plant on the island or laying underwater cables from Turkey, according to Turkey’s Chamber of Mechanical Engineers.

The claim has been certified by the Turkish Cypriot authority as well as the chamber.

Turkey has already set all the options on the table for meeting the energy needs of the island, Haluk Direşkeneli, a board member of the Chamber of Mechanical Engineers and head of its Energy Committee, said in a phone interview Tuesday.

“Russia’s barge-mounted nuclear power plant might be built in northern Cyprus,” he said, adding that such a facility would generate electricity “not only for the Turkish part [of the divided island], but also the Greek part.”

A nuclear plant on the island was also discussed in the Greek Cypriot parliament a few years ago, Direşkeneli said.

Turkey and Greece: Time to Settle the Aegean Dispute

INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP - NEW BRIEFING

Istanbul/Brussels, 19 July 2011: To capitalise on twelve years of normalisation, and at a time when both could benefit from a foreign policy success, Greece and Turkey should settle their expensive, outdated and stressful stand-off over Aegean Sea maritime zones and related issues.

Turkey and Greece: Time to Settle the Aegean Dispute, the latest International Crisis Group policy briefing, identifies favourable circumstances for resolving the long-standing issues. While Ankara fears losing access to open seas and the Aegean continental shelf, and Athens worries about the security of hundreds of its islands, continuing deadlock is costly for both. Greece, in financial crisis, needs to reduce a disproportionate military budget. Turkey’s new government, elected with a strong majority in June, needs to ensure its neighbour’s stability and further assert itself as a responsible regional player. 

“The dispute is far more about the domestic politics and psychology of Greece and Turkey than real security concerns”, says Didem Akyel, Crisis Group’s Turkey/Cyprus Analyst. “Lack of political will to let go of maximalist positions and confront popular opinion with compromises has kept the negotiations in the starting blocks”. 

Turkey's growing regional power boosts EU membership hopes

Thomas SEIBERT   The National

ISTANBUL // As a rising regional power in a tumultuous Middle East, Turkey has laboured for months to mediate between governments and opposition groups in a region shaken by a wave of popular revolts.
Now a potential fringe benefit of Ankara's high-profile role is starting to appear on the horizon: Turkey's standing with the European Union could receive a boost.

Guido Westerwelle, Germany's foreign minister, has become the first top EU official to tell his European colleagues publicly that they should change the way they deal with Turkey, which has grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress in its bid to join the bloc.

"Turkey has been a stable bridge into the Muslim world, and we in Europe would be foolish if we were not to make more use of this bridge," Mr Westerwelle said late on Friday after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul. "Turkey plays a key role for the change in Egypt to succeed, for a political solution in Libya and for the right influence on the Syrian leadership," he said.

Turkey uses economic clout to gain Balkan foothold

AP

The minarets and Turkish coffeehouses in this southern Serbian town are reminders of the Muslim empire that once shook Europe’s foundations by pushing armies all the way to the gates of Vienna.

Now Turkey — the modern state that replaced the Ottoman Empire — is staging a comeback. Turkey’s fast-growing economic clout is allowing it into Europe through the back door, even as its dream of joining the continent through the path of EU membership founders.

Turkey’s trade with the Balkan countries increased to $17.7 billion in 2008 from about $3 billion in 2000. Turkey’s companies have built the largest university campus in the Balkans, in a suburb of Sarajevo. And its banks provided 85 percent of loans for building a highway through Serbia for Turkish transit of goods to the EU.

On a 2009 trip to Bosnia, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu explicitly linked his nation’s Balkan strategy to the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the region between the 14th and early 20th centuries. “The Ottoman centuries of the Balkans were success stories. Now we have to reinvent this.” “Turkey,” he declared triumphantly, “is back.”

British deputy PM says Turkey valuable example for Mideast

Selçuk GÜLTAŞLI

Addressing the latest democratic movements in the Arab Middle East, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said Turkey is “a valuable example for other societies.” Delivering a speech in Brussels on Wednesday titled “Building Open Societies: Transforming Europe’s Partnership with North Africa,” Clegg appraised the “Turkish way” and strongly supported the idea that Turkey could be a model for emergent democracies of the Arab world. It is being hotly debated both in the West and in the Arab world whether Turkey could be a source of inspiration for Muslim societies that want to end decades of dictatorships and live in a democratic system. Clegg, whose country has consistently supported Turkey’s aspirations for EU membership, said recent events had highlighted Turkey’s importance. “As a Muslim majority country, a NATO member and a country firmly committed to the path to EU membership, and a state with a vibrant multi-party democracy, it provides a valuable example for other societies,” said Clegg.