Crises and post-neoliberal EU: How EU’s Transition Beyond the Market Fosters Complexity in Electricity and Digital Infrastructure Policies

Abstract

Presenters: Emmanuelle Mathieu, University of Lausanne Noel Löcse, University of Lausanne Abstract: Whereas the EU has, for decades, been overwhelmingly working towards realizing the single market via liberalization policies, recent crises and turbulences have put this original neoliberal focus into question, as for example in the defense, public health or sustainability sectors. While some works have emphasized this shift, they remain fragmented along sectoral lines, overlooking that several transitions co-existing and may thus affect each other. This paper addresses this gap by systematically mapping the evolution of the policy objectives driving EU electricity and digital infrastructure policies – originally conceived as ideal models of EU pro-market liberalization posture – from the 1990s until 2023. Based on this cross-sectoral comparative and systematic approach, the paper shows that 1) there is an EU post-neoliberal transition in that the market-related objectives lose ground in EU policy mixes to the benefit of alternative policy objectives, 2) the post-neoliberal transition fosters policy complexity, in that that there are various types of new objectives (security -, climate -, and social- related) emerging in single policy fields, and 3) these new objectives are embedded in policy mixes that remain strongly oriented towards market objectives which remain central in both sectors, and 4) the more frequent and the wider the range of crises affecting a sector, the more multidirectional and intense the post-neoliberal transition. The resulting picture is one of policy complexity, with policy mixes aggregating both a rising diversity of increasingly influential new objectives and a remaining centrality of old objectives. This situation entails important risks in terms of policy coherence and underlines the need for EU policymakers to engage in intense policy coordination and integration.