Policy brief
Claire Dupont
unpublished
In October 2009, the European Council of heads of state and government agreed to the long-term political objective of reducing the EU's emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by between 80 and 95 per cent by 2050, compared to 1990 levels (European Council , 2009). Such an objective is in line with the suggestions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as the effort required by developed countries to avoid catastrophic climate change (see IPCC, 2013). This objective effectively requires
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... dramatic transition in the EU's energy sector-away from fossil fuels and towards low-carbon or zero-GHG emitting energy sources (European Commission , 2011). In this paper, I highlight three main conclusions from my PhD research project that examined the extent to which the 2050 climate policy objective is integrated into EU energy policy (entitled "Climate policy integration into EU energy policy"). EU policymakers may wish to consider the ramifications of these conclusions in the elaboration of legislation on the climate and energy policy framework to 2030, and beyond. The three main conclusions are as follows: 1. The EU engages in continuous "catch-up governance", as the low ambition and poor implementation of past policy measures mean that future measures have less time in which to achieve climate goals. 2. EU policymakers cannot rely on external stakeholders to push for more policy ambition, especially when internal EU legislators emphasise other priorities and consider these priorities in opposition to climate policy goals. 3. Long-term policy planning is insufficiently part of day-today policymaking and policy analysis, and the functional interrelations between energy policy and long-term climate policy objectives are not always adequately recognised. The next sections discuss the research project, its results and conclusions in more detail. I close the paper by highlighting some concrete actions that policymakers may need to take to develop coherent policies and to achieve long-term climate policy goals. W ith discussions ongoing in the EU on the climate and energy policy framework to 2030, it is timely to assess the reality of climate policy integration into EU energy policy. Such an analysis can lead to lessons for the legislative process for the 2030 package, and even for policies in other sectors and beyond 2030. Climate change is a complex, crosscutting, long-term and global problem. Policymakers acknowledge that integrating climate policy objectives into the elaboration and agreement of measures in other sectors represents one method for striving towards coherent policies that respond adequately to the climate change problem. This policy brief presents the results and policy recommendations from the project "climate policy integration into EU energy policy". EU climate and energy policy: hope for more and better climate policy integration? Research project and results In the project "climate policy integration into EU energy policy", I examined the extent of climate policy integration (CPI) in the process and output of three EU energy policies over the course of 2000 to 2010. The extent of CPI found was then evaluated against a number of explanatory variables. The project followed a qualitative comparative case-study research design, comparing: 1. EU renewable energy policy, RE (renewable energy sources of electricity Directive 2001/77/EC and renewable energy Directive 2009/28/EC); 2. EU energy performance of buildings policy, EPB (Directive
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