EU Climate and Energy Policy: A Hesitant Supranational Turn?

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jørgen Wettestad ◽  
Per Ove Eikeland ◽  
Måns Nilsson

This article examines the recent changes of three central EU climate and energy policies: the revised Emissions Trading Directive (ETS); the Renewables Directive (RES); and internal energy market (IEM) policy. An increasing transference of competence to EU level institutions, and hence “vertical integration,” has taken place, most clearly in the case of the ETS. The main reasons for the differing increase in vertical integration are, first, that more member states were dissatisfied with the pre-existing system in the case of the ETS than in the two other cases. Second, the European Commission and Parliament were comparatively more united in pushing for changes in the case of the ETS. And, third, although RES and IEM policies were influenced by regional energy security concerns, they were less structurally linked to and influenced by the global climate regime than the ETS.

Author(s):  
David Buchan

This chapter examines three strands of the European Union’s energy policy: the internal energy market, energy security, and climate change. Energy policy has rapidly gained in importance for the EU, as it faces the challenges of creating an internal energy market, increasing energy security, and playing an active role in combating climate change. Reform of the energy market has been a constant activity since the late 1980s and has been based on liberalizing cross-border competition, but this could be increasingly undermined by member-state intervention and subsidy to promote renewable energy and to ensure adequate back-up power. Efforts to curb energy use and to develop a low-carbon economy are at the heart of Europe’s new programmes and targets to combat climate change. The chapter shows that each of the three strands of the EU’s energy policy involve different policy-making communities and illustrate a range of different policy modes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 47-49
Author(s):  
Martina Dočkalová

This book highlights the importance of Turkey in diversifying supplies in future European energy security, focusing in particular on the rapidly emerging southern energy corridor. Turkey, by its location, occupies a key role in this corridor, fed by hydrocarbon supplies from Russian, Caspian, east Mediterranean and Arab sources. The book examines Turkey's role as a transit country (in addition to its own growing domestic energy market) and it utilizes the latest evidence on the geopolitics of various pipelines which convergence on Turkey. The evidence, including maps, strongly favor Turkey as an energy hub within a regional energy model driven by rational behavior and market forces. The book recommends an increasing strategic energy cooperation between the EU and Turkey to maximize mutual interest.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirja Schröder

Analysing the geopolitical vision of EU external energy policy, exemplified by the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), this study places emphasis on how geopolitical discourse and thinking have influenced EU policymaking. It starts from the dominant view that the Russia–Ukraine gas crises have caused energy security to be featured highly on the EU’s agenda. Accordingly, the European Commission has outlined different measures to ensure supply security, one of which is the diversification of routes and sources through the Caspian region. Taking up the conceptual perspective of critical geopolitics, the book analyses the European Commission’s geopolitical reasoning. It observes that the proposed policy solution of diversifying gas supply and routes through the SGC has turned into a publicly accepted narrative in Commission discourse.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-239
Author(s):  
Ana-Maria Iulia Şanta

Abstract The European Union develops a new energy policy as an answer to the challenges of climate change which is a global issue affecting all of us. The package “Clean Energy for All Europeans” adopted by the European Commission in 2016, contains instruments for a new energy policy at the level of the European Union, based on an Energy Union, on promoting energy efficiency and the use of Clean Energy. These are the first steps in creating an institutional and legal framework for a common energy market of the European Union. This way the Internal Market of the European Union would be completed by a common energy market and the result would be a consolidated European Union. This is the research hypothesis the present paper is dealing with. It analyzes as well the impact of the new energy policies on the business environment in terms of new innovative business models at European Union level. The research is based on an interdisciplinary approach considering aspects of European policy, European law, business and economics. Qualitative research methods, such as the analysis of European regulations and provisions representing the basis for a harmonized framework in the energy sector at European Union level and case studies from European Union Member States will be applied. Relevant indicators provided by the European Commission and by Eurostat statistics analyzed in the present paper will complete this assessment.


Author(s):  
David Buchan

This chapter examines three strands of the European Union’s energy policy: the internal energy market, energy security, and climate change. Energy policy has rapidly gained in importance for the EU, as it faces the challenges of creating an internal energy market, increasing energy security, and playing an active role in combating climate change. Reform of the energy market has been a constant activity since the late 1980s and has been based on liberalizing cross-border competition, but this could be increasingly undermined by member-state intervention and subsidy to promote renewable energy and to ensure adequate back-up power. Efforts to curb energy use and to develop a low-carbon economy are at the heart of Europe’s new programmes and targets to combat climate change. The chapter shows that each of the three strands of the EU’s energy policy involve different policy-making communities and illustrate a range of different policy modes.


Author(s):  
N. Y. Kaveshnikov

The article analyses development of external energy policy of the European Union (EU). In spite of the Lisbon treaty didn’t substantially expend EU powers in external energy policy, European Commission (EC) became more active in recent years. Decision on exchange of information about bilateral energy agreements between Member States (MSs) and third countries may deprive producers of opportunity to differentiate terms of infrastructure projects and energy supply in different MSs. European Commission participation in MSs negotiations with third countries as a guardian of energy market provisions will inevitably increase negotiation power of MSs. Nevertheless, only smooth and modest extension of powers of the EC would be possible because of opposition of numerous countries which makes a search of consensus very difficult. Among priority activities of the EU external energy policy one could identify ‘export’ of energy market provisions in neighbor countries; diversification of suppliers and prioritization of politically selected supply routes; dramatic increase of regulatory activity at EU level. All these activities are partially successful, but they all have some shortages. Several EU legislative and regulatory measures risk to run counter to existing obligations of MSs.


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