Barriers and Benefits of the Implementation of the Policy of Obtaining Energy from Renewable Resources in the Middle East and North African States

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the number of barriers which the implementation of the policy of obtaining energy from renewable resources may encounter in the Middle East and North African states - in the context of the diversification need of electrical energy supplies to European Union states. Apart from obvious benefits for the European Union from obtaining clean energy from the states which are under southern dimension of the European Neighborhood Policy, there are still numerous economic and social difficulties, which undermine the cooperation on energy issues on both sides of the Mediterranean. The biggest barriers are still the economic policy and infrastructural neglect, which preclude the efficient and effective exchange of energy. However, it seems that on the wave of Arab Spring, at least in some parts of Middle East and North African states the awareness of the benefits of obtaining clean energy is rising. But it may be regarded as symbolic that various energy projects coordinated from the European side despite their extensive time span and the level of involvement still have not yet achieved any results.