From Conflict to Synergy? Climate Policy Coherence in EU External Energy Policy Towards Natural Gas Suppliers

ABSTRACT As climate change has become central to EU policymaking over the last decades, questions have emerged about the extent to which climate objectives have reshaped the EU's external energy policy (EEP). This article investigates the evolution of EU's EEP towards major gas suppliers and identifies the institutional, material, and ideational conditions underpinning its coherence with climate goals. The analysis reveals increasing alignment with climate objectives, initially driven by commercial and geopolitical interests, and later reinforced by stronger climate‐related institutional and discursive enablers, albeit unevenly across the cases—reflecting the relevance of supplier‐specific characteristics. Overall, the study suggests that the geography of Europe's future energy relations will increasingly reflect the intersection of environmental imperatives and strategic considerations, and that EEP coherence with climate objectives is attainable when the EU pursues stringent climate action.