The EU external energy policy Communication published...by the European Commission continues the decade-long approach of the EU to ensure the unhindered flow of fossil fuel energy supplies to Europe without a real recognition of the problems this drive creates both inside and outside of the EU...The EU approach...continues to be...focused on supporting energy infrastructure mega-projects that...are often not feasible from both economic and environmental perspectives...Many of the mega-projects prioritised...in this communication actually increase the energy insecurity of the EU: they make the block dependent on authoritarian regimes that run countries at their own whim...[R]eliance on such business partners as the leaderships of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan makes a mockery of the EU’s human rights commitments...[W]hat we have seen in the past is that energy cooperation has not been able to bring about democratisation...in Central Asian countries...