Assessing the alignment of EU and member states external energy strategies with the European green deal: 2019–2024

Abstract With the launch of the European Green Deal in 2019, the von der Leyen Commission put forward a clear sustainable energy strategy, which includes an external dimension. However, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 put pressure on the alignment of EU and member states’ external energy security strategies with the European Green Deal. In this Paper, we focus on the external energy strategy of the EU, Germany and Italy towards two fossil fuel exporting countries in the Southern Neighbourhood: Egypt and Algeria. We find that, although a higher degree of alignment was found just after the invasion of Ukraine between the EU and Germany while remaining equal with Italy, there was a lower degree of alignment with the European Green Deal.