The International Energy Agency in the global energy landscape and its relations with non-member States

Abstract

Since the end of last century, changes in the global energy landscape have led to a set of IEA initiatives addressed to bring closer its practices, policies and activities to non-member countries. This line of external action (known as ‘global engagement’) includes bilateral cooperation measures with those non-member States, which are the subject matter of this work. Its analysis addresses the characteristics of the competences of international bodies in the field of external relations as well as the legal nature of the instruments used for the exercise of such competences. Furthermore, from a thematic perspective, the contents of the IEA external action offer a significant indicator of the current challenges faced by the global energy governance and therefore of the degree of participation and impact of the Agency's work on this task. Thus it can be argued that, in the current global energy context, the relevance of the Agency and the achievement of its founding objectives depend on the scope and effectiveness of the Agency’s external activity.