Softening the surface but hardening the core? Governing renewable energy in the EU

Schoenefeld, Jonas J.; Knodt, Michèle

doi:10.1080/01402382.2020.1761732

Cited by 21 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…The first tool was the NECPs for the period 2021-30; another was the national long-term strategies that are supposed to support the 2050 decarbonisation goal. Article 34 of the Regulation stated that if there was an "ambition gap" identified in the NECP of a country, the EC would issue a recommendation that the concerned member state "shall take due account of" (see also Schoenefeld and Knodt 2021). Such a gap would be identified by the EC through existing tools: for example, in the case of the renewables share, a formula contained in Annex II of the Governance Regulation (Official Journal of the European Union 2018) and a staff document of the Commission (EC 2019a).…”

Section: The Decarbonisation Of the Eu's Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Mišík

2021

The International Spectator

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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.

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Section: The Decarbonisation Of the Eu's Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Mišík

2021

The International Spectator

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“…The observed tendency towards HSG generates questions about the ways that have been found to 'harden' otherwise 'soft' governance arrangements. In order to assess the degree of hardness or softness of soft governance this contribution draws on the leading work on HSG in the context of energy governance in the EU (Knodt, 2018;Knodt, 2019a;Knodt, 2019b;Schoenefeld & Knodt, 2021), in order to propose a new analytical framework to enable the contributions in this special issue to diagnose HSG. This framework contains the following hardening elements:…”

Section: Diagnosing 'Harder' Elements In Soft Governance Arrangementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Policy entrepreneurswho may be public or private actors may entice the Member States to agree on HSG and therefore ensure some adherence to commonly agreed policy goals by varying the degree of hardness during negotiation processes. For example, the European Commission became a key entrepreneur in inserting harder elements into the Energy Union governance proposal, in particular by inserting a formula to calculate renewable contributions, as well as by bundling monitoring obligations and publishing them in the highly visible State of the Energy Union reports (Knodt et al, 2020;Schoenefeld & Jordan, 2020;Schoenefeld & Knodt, 2021; see also Eckhard & Jankauskas, 2019). Taken together, entrepreneurial activities towards HSG have proven to be a crucial factor in the papers in this special issue.…”

Section: Actorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Especially in the area of climate and energy governance, lacking or limited competences make it difficult for policy-makers at the European Union (EU) level to influence energy mixes in the EU Member States. In order to progress in this challenging policy environment, the EU increasingly turns to soft governance approaches with novel 'harder' elements , or harder soft governance (HSG) for short (Knodt, 2019a;Schoenefeld & Knodt, 2021; see also Goldthau & Sitter, 2015). According to Kooiman (2003, p. 4), governing comprises 'the totality of interactions, in which public as well as private actors participate, aimed at solving societal problems or creating societal opportunities […].'…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Harder soft governance in European climate and energy policy: exploring a new trend in public policy

Knodt

Schoenefeld

2020

Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning

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While various forms of soft governance have been long in the making, there is a growing introduction of new policy elements in order to 'harden' soft governance arrangements. These new forms of 'harder' soft governance (HSG) vary in the degree of hardness in different settings. This special issue aims to derive lessons for climate and energy policy on HSG by looking across other policy fields and institutions where such 'hardening' has emerged, including in climate policy monitoring, the EU Energy Union, the UNFCCC, the OECD, the Open Method of Coordination, the European Semester, and policy surveillance in transnational city networks. Bringing the contributions together, this introduction reviews soft governance approaches, including their hardening. It then develops a framework for diagnosing HSG, including indicators such as obligations, justification, precision, 'blaming and shaming' opportunities, the role of third party actors, bundling, enforcement by policy field coupling, and sanctions. The introduction then identifies driving factors of HSG, including the role of the EU Member States, a strong need for coordination, policy entrepreneurs and institutional opportunities. The lessons from this special issue provide a useful yardstick for the future development of climate and energy governance, and the use of HSG in other policy fields.

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“…The integration of Ukraine to the European Union is a strategic direction of our foreign policy. According to the Association Agreement of Ukraine with the European Union, signed in 2014, energy and environmental issues are key points when evaluating the progress of reforming the state [10]. It states, «the fast transition of Ukraine's energy sector to the usage of renewable resources is a strong and significant step to energetic independence, ecological friendliness and economic prosperity [3].…”

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confidence: 99%

The Economic Instruments for the Development of the Renewable Energy Sector in the EU and Ukraine

Piven

2020

Meh. regul. ekon.

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The research reveals the theoretical and practical aspects of the green energy sector. The article compares the level of development of the green energy sector in the European Union and Ukraine. Different indicators, including the share of energy from renewable sources in Ukraine, the interaction between the level of GDP per capita and the share of renewable energy in the EU and Ukraine, and the structure of the renewable energy resources of Ukraine and the EU are taken into account. The article discussed the role of financial and non-financial tools for the development of the green energy sector in the EU countries. The research states that the countries can be divided into three groups, where group A involves countries with a highly developed green energy sector, group B – member-states with progress in the transition to alternative sources of energy, and group C – countries with weak or no progress in the development of renewable energy sector. The research explains the impact of economic prosperity in developed countries on the renewable energy sector. It investigates that there is a very small positive correlation between the independent variable and the dependent variable. In general, it demonstrates that there is no correlation between the economic condition of very developed countries and the level of their green energy efficiency. The article suggests policy-making changes for the stable development of green energy in both the EU and Ukraine. Revision of existing government's medium and long term plans and adapting them to current circumstances, the gradual reduction of subsidies and reform of energy pricing, the regulatory focus on energy efficiency, the attraction of private investments through the use of domestic and donor investments are determined as important actions for stable development of green energy sector.

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Softening the surface but hardening the core? Governing renewable energy in the EU

Cited by 21 publications

References 46 publications

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

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

Harder soft governance in European climate and energy policy: exploring a new trend in public policy

The Economic Instruments for the Development of the Renewable Energy Sector in the EU and Ukraine

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