The North Sea and the EU’s Interregional Energy Politics – a Legal Geography Analysis

This contribution focusses on the North Sea which is one of the most used seas in the world and has to play a special role in the European energy transition. As such, this article is positioned within current discussions on the latest paradigm shift in the Humanities: the Blue Turn, where oceans are being placed at the forefront of Human Geography analysis. The EU runs on an interregional level a so-called Interreg North Sea where transnational cooperations are being negotiated. In doing so, the methodological lens of Legal Geography and Event Ethnography are combined to analyse interregional energy politics that shape the North Sea Area. One specific Interreg North Sea project, called REDII Ports (Renewable Energy Development and Intelligent Implementation in Ports), serves as example to highlight the following three aspects: 1) The North Sea is a multiple contested resource which 2) is in a process of resource- making and 3) is being urbanised by practices of energy politics.