Without strong German leadership, the adoption of an ambitious renewable energy policy across Europe will be impossible.

Debates are currently taking place over the EU’s energy and climate targets for 2030. Andrzej Ancygier and Kacper Szulecki note that Germany has so far kept an unusually low profile in the talks, which is at odds with the country’s active promotion of ambitious renewable energy and climate targets during its EU presidency in 2007. Using the case of Poland, which has so far shown reluctance to making the transition to renewable energy technology, as an example, they argue that there will be significant costs for both the German economy and European climate policy if the German government does not take a leading role over the issue

Plans to create a pan-European electricity grid as part of the common energy market face a number of challenges before they can be realised.

In March 2011 the European Council formulated plans to create a common European energy market by 2014. However, as Lidia Puka and Kacper Szulecki write, a real common energy market will also require a pan-European electricity grid, with improved bilateral links between European countries. They note that despite presenting obvious benefits for participating states, attempts to strengthen cross-border connections between countries such as France and Spain, or Germany and Poland, have faced a number of challenges. One of the primary problems in this respect is that EU level governance can only offer part of the solution, with Member State governments largely responsible for improving their own electricity links with neighbouring states

Energy Union: From Idea to Reality

Discussion summar

Die polnische Energie- und Klimapolitik in der Verantwortung von PiS

Zum ersten Mal seit 1989 liegt die Regierungsverantwortung in Polen vollständig bei einer Partei – die Mehrheiten im Sejm und im Senat werden von Recht und Gerechtigkeit (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość – PiS) gestellt und auch der Präsident stammt aus ihren Reihen. Das bedeutet, dass sie die ganze Verantwortung dafür übernimmt, den polnischen Energiesektor auf die vielen Herausforderungen vorzubereiten, die sich aus den fehlenden grundsätzlichen Reformen in den letzten Jahren sowie aus der sich dynamisch verändernden Umwelt ergeben haben. Abgesehen von der Wiederholung des Slogans von der Kohle als polnischem nationalem Schatz hat die neue Regierung jedoch keine klare Strategie für die Energie- und Klimapolitik

External Voting

This open access book is the first monograph that brings together insights from comparative politics, political sociology, and migration studies to introduce the current state of knowledge on external voting and transnational politics. Drawing on new data gathered within the DIASPOlitic project, which created a comparative dataset of external voting results for 6 countries of origin and 17 countries of residence as well as an extensive qualitative dataset of 80 in-depth interviews with four groups of migrants, this book not only illustrates theoretical problems with empirical material, but also provides answers to previously unaddressed questions. The empirical material focuses on the European context. The Eastern Enlargement of the European Union (2004-2007) triggered a westward wave of migration from Central and Eastern European countries which faced the expansion of existing émigré communities and the emergence of new ones. As this process coincided with the expansion of migrant voting rights, the result is a large set of populous diaspora communities which can potentially have a significant impact on country electoral politics, making the study of external voting highly relevant. This book’s introduction takes stock of current research on transnational politics and external voting, presenting core puzzles. The following chapter introduces the context of intra-European migration and the political situation in Central-Eastern European sending countries. The next two sections address the empirical puzzles, drawing on new quantitative and qualitative. The conclusion takes stock of the evidence gathered, discusses the normative problem of non-resident voters enfranchisement, connects external voting to the broader debate on political remittances and finally, maps the terrain ahead for future research. This concise, empirically grounded introduction to external voting is critical reading in structuring the debate around migration and shaping research agendas for the future

Energy security concerns versus market harmony:The Europeanisation of capacity mechanisms

The impact of renewables on the energy markets-falling wholesale electricity prices and lower investment stability-are apparently creating a shortage of energy project financing, which in future could lead to power supply shortages. Governments have responded by introducing payments for capacity, alongside payments for energy being sold. The increasing use of capacity mechanisms (CMs) in the EU has created tensions between the European Commission, which encourages cross-country cooperation, and Member States that favour backup solutions such as capacity markets and strategic reserves. We seek to trace the influence of the European Commission on national capacity markets as well as learning between Member States. Focusing on the United Kingdom, France and Poland, the analysis shows that energy security concerns have been given more emphasis than the functioning of markets by Member States. Policy developments have primarily been domestically driven, but the European Commission has managed to impose certain elements, most importantly a uniform methodology to assess future supply security, as well as specific requirements for national capacity markets: interconnectors to neighbouring countries, demand side responses and continuous revision of CMs. Learning from other Member States’ experiences also play a role in policy decisions

Towards Decarbonization: Understanding EU Energy Governance

This editorial introduces the thematic issue “EU Energy Policy: Towards a Clean Energy Transition?”, nesting it in broader discussion on European Union’s (EU) energy policy. For over a decade, the EU has displayed an interest and political motivation to integrate climate policy priorities into its energy governance. However, the history of European energy governance does not start there, though political science scholarship has tended to downplay the importance of energy sector regulation. Recent years have finally seen the merging of two distinct research programs on European energy politics, and the emergence of a more inclusive and historically accurate approach to energy governance in Europe. This thematic issue follows that new paradigm. It is divided into three sections. The first investigates the EU Energy Union, its governance and decarbonization ambitions. The second section looks at the increasing overlaps between energy and competition policies, particularly the role of State Aid Guidelines in influencing energy subsidies—for renewable as well as conventional energy. Finally, the third section analyses the energy and climate policy of “new” EU members and the relationship between the EU and non-members in the energy sector

Energy securitisation: avenues for future research

In this chapter we identify some key areas for future research on “energy securitization” through both an examination of what Securitization Studies could learn from the study of energy issues and what insights could be drawn from theoretical developments within Securitization Studies for the study of energy security. After a brief overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the Copenhagen School framework, we outline several possibilities within two main strands of research—the discursive construction of energy security and the process of energy securitization, respectively. In the case of the former, we suggest that research should focus on the question of whether or not energy is a distinct “sector” of security, and whether it is constituted by “logics” of security that depart from the Copenhagen School’s conception of securitization. In the case of the latter, we suggest that greater attention should be paid to the audiences of attempts to securitize energy issues, and the ways in which such attempts are shaped by power relations, systems of energy governance, and the “materiality” of energy systems. We conclude with some reflections on the causal status of securitization theory and the implications this has for how to conduct further research on energy securitization

The global importance of EU climate policy: an introduction

Among the countries and organisations subscribing to the objective of ‘climate neutrality’ by the middle of the twenty-first century, the European Union is a rather distinctive actor, whose long-standing efforts to deliver decarbonisation deserve particularly close attention. The chapter begins with a brief outline of the main actors, institutions and policy processes involved in the EU climate policy process. This is followed by a chronological account of the evolution of EU climate policy and politics, including key instruments such as the Emissions Trading System, covering the period from the early 1990s up to the 2019 European Green Deal and 2021 ‘Fit for 55’ package of measures. The final section explains the rationale for the structure of the book, and summarizes the aims and objectives of the following 25 chapters