Perfect Compliance? Nuclear Power in Central and Eastern Europe and the EU Membership

Mišík, Matúš; Prachárová, Veronika

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-55085-1_15

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This strategy proved effective only when the date of accession was unknown; if the date of accession was known, conditionality had only a minimal effect on the candidate country's willingness to fulfil the criteria [47]. Thus, the positive incentive (membership) was able to change the behaviour of member states very effectively [48], but the ability of conditionality to influence countries once they became full members was very limited [49].…”

Section: Financial Europeanisation As a Positive Incentivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Natural gas plays also more important role in the electricity mix than coal (both brown and hard). The dominant position of nuclear in Slovak electricity production was maintained even after two reactors in Jaslovské Bohunice were closed at the end of 2006 and 2008 [48]. Two thermal power plants in Slovakia use coal: Elektrárne Nováky (ENO), with 266 MW, and Elektrárne Vojany (EVO), with 220 MW of installed capacity.…”

Section: Slovak Coal Industry and Use Of Coal In Electricity Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Coal Is a Priority for Energy Security, until It Is Not: Coal Phase-Out in the EU and Its Persistence in the Face of the Energy Crisis

Mišík

Prachárová

2023

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many countries see coal as the easiest solution to their energy sector challenges, despite the consequences for climate goals. Several countries of the European Union started to re-evaluate their coal policies vis-à-vis the current energy crisis and, although such a change is expected to be short-term in nature, it nevertheless has negative consequences for the Union’s 2050 climate goal. However, most of the EU countries did not revise their phase-out goals. This paper examines Slovakia as a country that embarked on a coal phase-out trajectory only a few years before the pandemic broke out and stayed firmly on this path despite benefits stemming from the continued use of domestic coal. Domestic coal used to be considered a safeguard of energy security in Slovakia, especially after the 2009 gas crisis. However, a decision was made in 2018 to phase out coal by 2023, and this has not changed despite increased focus on domestic energy sources as energy security guarantors during the current energy crisis. This paper explains the decision in favour of a coal phase-out and its support vis-à-vis the energy crisis using the concept of ‘financial Europeanisation’, which stresses the importance of EU funds for the development of the domestic policies of EU member states. While the expected funds serve as a catalyst for the coal phase-out needed to reach climate goals, short-term advantages of revising a coal phase-out were outweighed by long-term benefits provided by EU funds.

show abstract

Section: Financial Europeanisation As a Positive Incentivementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Slovak Coal Industry and Use Of Coal In Electricity Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coal Is a Priority for Energy Security, until It Is Not: Coal Phase-Out in the EU and Its Persistence in the Face of the Energy Crisis

Mišík

Prachárová

2023

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Similarly, several CEE member states complied also with challenging requirements like shutting down their nuclear power plants. While these requirements were agreed upon during the accession negotiations, they were fulfilled only once the impacted countries became members of the Union (Mišík and Prachárová 2021). The famous 'world of dead letters' described CEE countries' compliance with EU rules as a combination of transposition of "EU Directives in a compliant manner" and "noncompliance at the later stage of monitoring and enforcement" (Falkner and Treib 2008, 308).…”

Section: The Impact Of Post-accession Conditionality On Cee Countries' Preferencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

When the Accession Legacy Fades Away: Central and Eastern European Countries and the EU Renewables Targets

Mišík

2021

The International Spectator

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Renewable sources of energy are considered to play a crucial role in the transition towards a decarbonised economy. Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries' positions vis-à-vis the European Union's (EU) renewables goals do not form a homogenous group and have changed over time. After joining the Union, these countries initially supported the EU's renewables targets due to post-accession compliance; however, once this accession legacy faded away, they started to pursue their preferences in a more assertive way, which resulted in different strategies and priorities. The development of CEE countries' positions towards renewables targets is thus connected to the 'emancipation' of these countries and a more assertive way of pursuing their preferences at the EU level, once they were 'freed' from the influence of post-accession conditionality. KEYWORDS Central and Eastern Europe; climate change; compliance; national preferences; renewablesIn order to meet the goals set by the 2016 Paris Agreement (Rogelj et al. 2016) -that is, to prevent a global average temperature increase of more than 2° Celsius, and ideally no more than 1.5° Celsius, above pre-industrial levels -the European Union (EU) set its own goal of a climate-neutral economy by 2050. The main idea is to create an economic system that will produce only a limited amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions that will be absorbed by natural processes (the so-called 'removal'). This goal, originally proposed by the European Commission (EC) in 2011 (EC 2011) and later reaffirmed in December 2018, was confirmed by member states at the December 2019 European Council (European Council 2019). Only Poland "at [that] stage, [could not] commit to implement this objective" (1). The European Council's plan to "come back to this in June 2020" was thwarted by the Covid-19 pandemic that dominated 2020. The following Council meeting in July 2020 focused on the post-pandemic recovery; although energy and climate issues were an important part of this discussion -with member states agreeing that "30% of the total amount of Union budget and [Next Generation EU] expenditures [should] support climate objectives" (European Council 2020b, 14) -, achieving unity on climate policies among member states was not a priority at that time.Since the second half of 2000s, there has been a strong convergence of energy and climate policies at the EU level aiming at lessening the carbon footprint of the Union (Skjaerseth 2016). Even though most analyses focus on GHG targets (for example, Skovgaard 2013), renewables are a crucial aspect of the EU's decarbonisation efforts.

show abstract

The Myth of Homogeneity: The Visegrad Group’s Energy Transition

Mišík

Oravcová

2022

Palgrave Studies in Energy Transitions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Perfect Compliance? Nuclear Power in Central and Eastern Europe and the EU Membership

Cited by 3 publications

References 45 publications

Coal Is a Priority for Energy Security, until It Is Not: Coal Phase-Out in the EU and Its Persistence in the Face of the Energy Crisis

Coal Is a Priority for Energy Security, until It Is Not: Coal Phase-Out in the EU and Its Persistence in the Face of the Energy Crisis

When the Accession Legacy Fades Away: Central and Eastern European Countries and the EU Renewables Targets

The Myth of Homogeneity: The Visegrad Group’s Energy Transition

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About