The Role of EU Institutions in Energy Policy Formation

A basic puzzle underlying any effort to understand energy policy formation within a complex transnational decision making arena like the European Union (EU), where both national and supranational level interests are simultaneously represented and preferences continuously negotiated, is why there is any semblance of a common energy policy in the first place. Such an achievement, albeit limited and fragmented in its current state, is quite remarkable given the sheer complexity of the energy sector, the range of import dependencies, and the varying energy mixes among the 27 Member States. Coupled with these challenges is the multiplicity of crosscutting pressures inherent in the EU’s three-pronged policy objectives of energy security, economic competitiveness, and environmental sustainability. As the preceding chapter highlighted, problems emerging from environmental degradation, rapidly diminishing resources, and the increasing reliance on energy imports have necessitated the development of a more integrated approach to energy and climate change and the move to a more sustainable and secure energy supply. Despite the fact that large majorities of European citizens embrace the goals of environmental sustainability and show strong support for EU and domestic efforts to combat climate change, there nonetheless remains a complex array of core and often competing national interests that would seem to bedevil a more comprehensive, transnational approach to energy policy. How have EU level institutions and supranational processes operated thus far to transform such national and intergovernmental barriers to a common energy policy?