A new European energy policy paradigm revealed by changes in hydrogen strategies

Abstract

As energy policy paradigms change, profound shifts in policy goals and instrument logics follow. Therefore, understanding when the energy policy paradigm might be changing is very important for researchers assessing energy policies. Although changes in policy paradigms are infrequent, they are more likely to occur during crises such as the 2022 energy crisis. However, most research analyses these changes through long-term, single-country studies that cannot reveal shifts in recent years, across countries, or in countries affected by supranational policies. To overcome this limitation, this article explores a new approach to identifying changes in the policy paradigm. It compares changes in policy goals, instrument logics, and targeted sectors across twenty-one strategic policy documents for hydrogen published by the European Commission and eight Member States between 2020 and 2024. Our findings indicate that European hydrogen strategies have undergone significant changes following the energy crisis. Across the EU, there is a shift toward more security policy goals, coercive instrument logics, and electricity system applications, while economic goals and incentive-based logics remain the most common. Member States and the European Commission tend to align on high-level changes, but differ on more specific aspects, such as targeted sub-sectors and international policy aspects. Overall, these changes reveal a new European energy policy paradigm that evolves from the prevailing paradigm rather than entirely rejecting it, with profound implications for European hydrogen policies and beyond.