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by blibble 1518 days ago
increasing energy dependence on the EU seems unwise given its attempts to use it for political leverage: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/05/france-uk-jers...

the government agrees: https://news.sky.com/story/jersey-fishing-dispute-frances-si...

(and has denied construction of new interconnectors to France since)

Spain would definitely use an interconnector as leverage re: Gibraltar

2 comments

you don't know what you are talking about, lots of interconnectors are planned to EU : https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-policy-and-regulation/policy...

Aquind cancellation is about financial stability of the developper, its russian origin, and politicals connections to the tories and also ecological interest groups lobbying on both side of the interconnector.

UK which of course never used unrelated subject like fishing rights or immigration as a political leverage. \s

Every country in the EU submit to the majority law, that's the idea of an union, even France or Germany do not have everything to their liking every time.

Which is precisely why the UK is no longer in the EU. It no longer has to follow "majority law" and can do what is in its own best interests.
> and can do what is in its own best interests.

If it did that, it wouldn't have gotten out of the common market. The UK is way past sensible choices in its best interests, and is firmly in the "cut its nose to spite the EU".

how you leave the legal framework without exiting the "common market" (single market)?

the answer is: you can't

The point wasn’t “the UK is better than Spain” but rather, “energy dependence on Spain is not in the UK’s best interest”.
Without any argument apart "there seem to be rules to follow inside the EU" it seems unsubstantiated.

A better argument would be that digging or laying 3000Km 12GW terrestrial electric line through Spain and France would be expensive and especially difficult to sell to them, even if they could benefit from the energy.

It’s already been clearly substantiated: running the cable through Spain or France would give leverage to those countries regarding (among other things) territorial disputes. This has nothing to do with the EU except in the tangential sense that Spain and France are both member states.