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Good things do not always come in threes: On the excess cost of overlapping regulation in EU climate policy

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  • Böhringer, Christoph
  • Keller, Andreas
  • Bortolamedi, Markus
  • Rahmeier Seyffarth, Anelise

Abstract

Since the mid-1990's the European Union (EU) aims at pushing global climate policy. The objective is to promote international cooperation by the adoption of substantial EU-wide greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and their least-cost implementation. Our quantitative impact assessment of the EU Climate and Energy Package shows that the myriad of instruments used in the EU to curb greenhouse gas emissions is doomed to generate substantial excess cost. We conclude that EU climate and energy policy should better disentangle its choices of objectives, targets, and policy instruments on rigorous economic grounds in order to improve the coherence and overall cost-effectiveness of policy initiatives.

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  • Böhringer, Christoph & Keller, Andreas & Bortolamedi, Markus & Rahmeier Seyffarth, Anelise, 2016. "Good things do not always come in threes: On the excess cost of overlapping regulation in EU climate policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 502-508.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:94:y:2016:i:c:p:502-508
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2015.12.034
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ettore Bompard & Daniele Grosso & Tao Huang & Francesco Profumo & Xianzhang Lei & Duo Li, 2018. "World Decarbonization through Global Electricity Interconnections," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-29, July.
    3. Juan Ignacio Pe~na & Rosa Rodriguez, 2022. "Are EU Climate and Energy Package 20-20-20 targets achievable and compatible? Evidence from the impact of renewables on electricity prices," Papers 2202.01720, arXiv.org.
    4. Marc Vielle, 2020. "Navigating various flexibility mechanisms under European burden-sharing," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 22(2), pages 267-313, April.
    5. Peña, Juan Ignacio & Rodríguez, Rosa, 2019. "Are EU's Climate and Energy Package 20-20-20 targets achievable and compatible? Evidence from the impact of renewables on electricity prices," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 477-486.
    6. Zeng, Yingying, 2017. "Indirect double regulation and the carbon ETSs linking: The case of coal-fired generation in the EU and China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 268-280.
    7. Paul Lehmann & Jos Sijm & Erik Gawel & Sebastian Strunz & Unnada Chewpreecha & Jean-Francois Mercure & Hector Pollitt, 2019. "Addressing multiple externalities from electricity generation: a case for EU renewable energy policy beyond 2020?," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 21(2), pages 255-283, April.
    8. Mulder, Machiel & Zeng, Yuyu, 2018. "Exploring interaction effects of climate policies: A model analysis of the power market," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 165-185.
    9. Wenhui Zhao & Xiongjiantao Bao & Guanghui Yuan & Xiaomei Wang & Hongbo Bao, 2019. "The Equilibrium Model for the Coexistence of Renewable Portfolio Standards and Emissions Trading: The Supply Chain Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-29, January.
    10. Massimiliano Corradini & Valeria Costantini & Anil Markandya & Elena Paglialunga & Giorgia Sforna, 2018. "Some reflections on policy mix in the EU low-carbon strategy," Departmental Working Papers of Economics - University 'Roma Tre' 0236, Department of Economics - University Roma Tre.
    11. Renaud Coulomb & Oskar Lecuyer & Adrien Vogt-Schilb, 2019. "Optimal Transition from Coal to Gas and Renewable Power Under Capacity Constraints and Adjustment Costs," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(2), pages 557-590, June.
    12. Wang, Ge & Zhang, Qi & Su, Bin & Shen, Bo & Li, Yan & Li, Zhengjun, 2021. "Coordination of tradable carbon emission permits market and renewable electricity certificates market in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    13. Antimiani, Alessandro & Costantini, Valeria & Paglialunga, Elena, 2023. "Fossil fuels subsidy removal and the EU carbon neutrality policy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    14. Burmeister, Johannes & Peterson, Sonja, 2016. "National climate policies in times of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS)," Kiel Working Papers 2052, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    15. Bao, Xiongjiantao & Zhao, Wenhui & Wang, Xiaomei & Tan, Zhongfu, 2019. "Impact of policy mix concerning renewable portfolio standards and emissions trading on electricity market," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 761-774.
    16. Filippo Maria D’Arcangelo & Ilai Levin & Alessia Pagani & Mauro Pisu & Åsa Johansson, 2022. "A framework to decarbonise the economy," OECD Economic Policy Papers 31, OECD Publishing.
    17. Corradini, Massimiliano & Costantini, Valeria & Markandya, Anil & Paglialunga, Elena & Sforna, Giorgia, 2018. "A dynamic assessment of instrument interaction and timing alternatives in the EU low-carbon policy mix design," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 73-84.
    18. del Río, Pablo, 2017. "Why does the combination of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme and a renewable energy target makes economic sense?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 824-834.
    19. Howell, Shaun & Rezgui, Yacine & Hippolyte, Jean-Laurent & Jayan, Bejay & Li, Haijiang, 2017. "Towards the next generation of smart grids: Semantic and holonic multi-agent management of distributed energy resources," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 193-214.
    20. Nagel, Niels Oliver & Böhringer, Christoph & Rosendahl, Knut Einar & Bolkesjø, Torjus Folsland, 2023. "Impacts of green deal policies on the Nordic power market," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    D61; H23; D58; Climate policy; Overlapping regulation; Computable general equilibrium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • D58 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Computable and Other Applied General Equilibrium Models

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