Advertisement

Between Energy Transition and Internal Market Agenda: The Impact of the EU Commission as a Distinct Energy Policy Actor

  • Sebastian StrunzEmail author
  • Erik Gawel
  • Paul Lehmann
Chapter
First Online:

Abstract

The EU Commission has newly evolved into a leading energy policy actor. At the same time, the Commission’s proclamation of an “Energy Union” depicts a visionary future rather than the current reality: the internal energy market still awaits full integration and the transition towards a sustainable energy system is taking place largely on the national level (e.g., the Energiewende in Germany). To shed some light on this muddled situation, we analyse the Commission’s promotion of the internal market and policy harmonisation/centralisation from an economic perspective along two dimensions. First, on the content dimension, we investigate whether the double challenge of decarbonising the energy system and finalising the internal market exhibits trade-offs. Second, on the form dimension, we outline the benefits of (de)centralising energy policies. For both dimensions, we build on the theory of fiscal federalism to elucidate the normative aspects of the discussion and the Public Choice approach to positively explain the emergence of the current situation. Overall, we find that the normative policy evaluation indeed differs in some respects from the Commission’s positions, while the latter can be well explained via the Public Choice approach.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgment

The research presented in this contribution is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Reference: 03SFK4P0, Consortium ENavi, Kopernikus).

References

  1. Ania, A., & Wagener, A. (2014). Laboratory federalism: The open method of coordination (OMC) as an evolutionary learning process. Journal of Public Economic Theory, 16(5), 767–795.Google Scholar
  2. Bigerna, S., Bollino, C. A., & Micheli, S. (2016). Renewable energy scenarios for cost reductions in the European Union. Renewable Energy, 96, 80–90.zbMATHGoogle Scholar
  3. Böhringer, C. (2014). Two decades of European climate policy: A critical appraisal. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 8(1), 1–17.Google Scholar
  4. Borrás, S., & Jacobsson, K. (2004). The open method of coordination and new governance patterns in the EU. Journal of European Public Policy, 11, 185–208.Google Scholar
  5. Buchan, D., & Keay, M. (2016). Europe’s long energy journey: Towards an energy union. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  6. Buchanan, J. (1984). Politics without romance: A sketch of positive public choice theory and its normative implications. In J. Buchanan & R. Tollison (Eds.), The theory of public choice – II (pp. 11–22). Ann Arbor: Michigan University Press.Google Scholar
  7. Burger, C., & Weinmann, J. (2013). The decentralized energy revolution. Business strategies for a new paradigm. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
  8. Callies, C., & Hey, C. (2013). Multilevel energy policy in the EU. Paving the way for renewables. Journal of European Environmental and Planning Law, 10(2), 87–131.Google Scholar
  9. Dal Bó, E. (2006). Regulatory capture - a review. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 22, 203–225.Google Scholar
  10. Downs, A. (1957). An economic theory of democracy. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
  11. European Commission. (2013). State aid SA.33955 (2013/C) (ex 2013/NN) – Germany – support for renewable electricity and reduced EEG-surcharge for energy-intensive users. OJ C 37, 7.2.2014, p. 74.Google Scholar
  12. European Commission. (2014). Guidelines on state aid for environmental protection and energy 2014–2020. Official Journal of the European Union (2014/C).Google Scholar
  13. European Commission. (2015). A framework strategy for a resilient energy union with a forward-looking climate change policy. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, The Council, The European Economic and Social Committee and The Committee of the Regions. COM(2015) 80.Google Scholar
  14. European Commission. (2016). Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the council on the governance of the Energy Union. COM(2016) 759 final/2.Google Scholar
  15. Gawel, E., & Klassert, C. (2013). Probleme der besonderen Ausgleichsregelung im EEG. Zeitschrift für Umweltrecht, 24(9), 467–480.Google Scholar
  16. Gawel, E., & Lehmann, P. (2014). Support for renewable energy in Germany after the 2014 renewable energy sources act. Wirtschaftsdienst, 94(9), 652–658.Google Scholar
  17. Gawel, E., & Purkus, A. (2016). EEG 2017 – Towards more market orientation of German renewable energy support policy? Wirtschaftsdienst, 96(12), 910–915.Google Scholar
  18. Gawel, E., & Strunz, S. (2014). State aid dispute on Germany’s support for renewables. Is the commission on the right course? Journal for European and Environmental Planning Law, 11, 137–150.Google Scholar
  19. Gawel, E., Strunz, S., & Lehmann, P. (2014a). To what extent should the German energy transition be Europeanized?). Zeitschrift für Energiewirtschaft, 38(3), 163–182.Google Scholar
  20. Gawel, E., Strunz, S., & Lehmann, P. (2014b). A public choice view on the climate and energy policy mix in the EU – How do emissions trading scheme and support for renewable energies interact? Energy Policy, 64, 175–182.Google Scholar
  21. Grafström, J., Söderholm, P., Gawel, E., Lehmann, P., Strunz, S. (2017). Knowledge accumulation from public renewable energy R&D in the European union: Converging or diverging trends? Mimeo, Luleå University of Technology and Helmholtz Centre for Environmnetal Research, Leipzig.Google Scholar
  22. Hildingsson, R., Stripple, J., & Jordan, A. (2011). Governing renewable energy in the EU: Confronting a governance dilemma. European Political Science, 11, 18–30.Google Scholar
  23. Jacobs, D. (2012). Renewable energy policy convergence in the EU: The evolution of feed-in tariffs in Germany, Spain and France. London: Ashgate.Google Scholar
  24. Jacobsson, S., & Lauber, V. (2006). The politics and policy of energy system transformation - explaining the German diffusion of renewable energy technology. Energy Policy, 34, 256–276.Google Scholar
  25. Keohane, N., Revesz, R., & Stavins, R. (1998). The choice of regulatory instruments in environmental policy. Harvard Environmental Law Review, 22, 313–267.Google Scholar
  26. Kerber, W., & Eckardt, M. (2007). Policy learning in Europe: The open method of co-ordination and laboratory federalism. Journal of European Public Policy, 14, 227–247.Google Scholar
  27. Kirchgässner, G., & Schneider, F. (2003). On the political Economcy of environmental policy. Public Choice, 115, 369–396.Google Scholar
  28. Kitzing, L., Mitchell, C., & Mothorst, P. E. (2012). Renewable energy policies in Europe: Converging or diverging? Energy Policy, 51, 192–201.Google Scholar
  29. Klinge Jacobsen, H., Pade, L. L., Schröder, S. T., & Kitzing, L. (2014). Cooperation mechanisms to achieve EU renewable targets. Renewable Energy, 63, 345–352.Google Scholar
  30. Knauff, M. (2017). Beihilferechtliche Steuerung der Energiepolitik? In J. Gundel & K. W. Lange (Eds.), Energieversorgung zwischen Energiewende und Energieunion (pp. 55–75). Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.Google Scholar
  31. Knodt, M. (2010). Strategies of territorial and functional interest: Towards a model of European interest intermediation? Journal of European Integration, 33(4), 419–435.Google Scholar
  32. Kopp, O., Eßer-Frey, A., & Engelhorn, T. (2012). Können sich erneuerbare Energien langfristig auf wettbewerblich organisierten Strommärkten finanzieren? Zeitschrift für Energiewirtschaft, 36(4), 1–13.Google Scholar
  33. Lauber, V., & Schenner, E. (2011). The struggle over support schemes for renewal electricity in the European Union: A discursive-institutionalist analysis. Environmental Politics, 20(4), 508–527.Google Scholar
  34. Lehmann, P., & Gawel, E. (2013). Why should support schemes for renewable electricity complement the EU emissions trading scheme? Energy Policy, 52, 597–607.Google Scholar
  35. Lipp, J. (2014). Lessons for effective renewable electricity policy from Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom. Energy Policy, 35, 5481–5495.Google Scholar
  36. May, P. J., & Jochim, A. E. (2013). Policy regime perspectives: Policies, politics, and governing. Policy Studies Journal, 41, 426–452.Google Scholar
  37. McCormick, R. E., & Tollison, R. D. (1981). Politicians, legislation and the economy: An inquiry into the interest-group theory of government. Boston: Martinus-Nijhoff.Google Scholar
  38. Michalena, E., & Hills, J. (2016). Stepping up but back: How EU policy reform fails to meet the needs of renewable energy actors. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 64, 716–726.Google Scholar
  39. Niskanen, W. A. (1971). Bureaucracy and representative government. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton.Google Scholar
  40. Oates, W. E. (1972). Fiscal Federalism. New York: Harcourt Brace Javanovich.Google Scholar
  41. Oates, W. E. (1999). An essay on fiscal federalism. Journal of Economic Literature, 37, 1120–1149.Google Scholar
  42. Ohlhorst, D. (2016). Germany’s energy transition between national targets and decentralized responsibilities. Journal of Integrated Environmental Sciences, 12(4), 303–322.Google Scholar
  43. Olson, M. (1971). The logic of collective action: Public goods and the theory of groups, second printing with new preface and appendix (Revised). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
  44. Peltzman, S. (1976). Toward a more general theory of regulation. Journal of Law and Economics, 19, 211–240.Google Scholar
  45. Purkus, A., Gawel, E., Deissenroth, M., Nienhaus, K., & Wassermann, S. (2015). Market integration of renewable energies through direct marketing – Lessons learned from the German market premium scheme. Energy, Sustainability and Society, 5(12), 1–13.Google Scholar
  46. Smith, M. G., & Urpelainen, J. (2013). Why has public R&D on alternatives to fossil fuels decreased in industrialized countries? Environmental Science and Policy, 25, 127–137.Google Scholar
  47. Stavins, R. N. (2014). The problem with EU renewables. The Environmental Forum, May/June 2014: 14. Available from http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/rstavins/Forum/Column_60.pdf
  48. Steinebach, Y., & Knill, C. (2017). Still an entrepreneur? The changing role of the European Commission in EU environmental policy-making. Journal of European Public Policy, 24(3), 429–446.Google Scholar
  49. Stigler, G. (1971). The theory of economic regulation. Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science, 2(1), 3–21.Google Scholar
  50. Strunz, S., Gawel, E., & Lehmann, P. (2015). Towards a general “Europeanization” of EU member states’ energy policies? Economics of Energy and Environmental Policy, 4(2), 143–159.Google Scholar
  51. Strunz, S., Gawel, E., & Lehmann, P. (2016). The political economy of renewable energy policies in Germany and the EU. Utilities Policy, 42, 33–41.Google Scholar
  52. Sühlsen, K., & Hisschemöller, M. (2014). Lobbying the ‘Energiewende’. Assessing the effectiveness of strategies to promote the renewable energy business in Germany. Energy Policy, 69, 316–325.Google Scholar
  53. Tews, K. (2015). Europeanization of energy and climate policy: The struggle between competing ideas of coordinating energy transitions. Journal of Environment and Development, 24(3), 267–291.Google Scholar
  54. Thaler, P. (2016). The European Commission and the European council: Coordinated agenda setting in European energy policy. Journal of European Integration, 38(5), 571–585.Google Scholar
  55. Tullock, G. (1967). The welfare costs of tarriffs, monopolies and theft. Western Economic Journal, 5, 224–232.Google Scholar
  56. von Unger, M. (2014). Germany’s renewable energy law, state aid and the internal market. An EU perspective. Journal for European and Environmental Planning Law, 11(3), 116–136.Google Scholar
  57. Winkler, J., & Altmann, M. (2012). Market designs for a completely renewable power sector. Zeitschrift für Energiewirtschaft, 36(2), 77–92.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of EconomicsHelmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZLeipzigGermany
  2. 2.Institute for Infrastructure and Resources ManagementLeipzig UniversityLeipzigGermany

Personalised recommendations

Cite chapter

Buy options