Central Asia strategy in 2007, to enhance the energy and general political-economic
cooperation with Central Asia. But the EU has had to compete mostly with Russia
and China, the two major powers and potential rivals in Central Asia and the Caspian
Region (CACR). While Azerbaijan has become the most important gas partner
of the EU, due to the planned Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans-
Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) pipeline network of the EU’s Southern Gas Corridor project,
Kazakhstan is the most important oil partner in CACR.