European Union climate policy harmonization efforts have been intensified within the last decade. However, member states still vary dramatically in both the political effort that is undertaken and about the understanding on the most efficient strategies for actions towards the development of a low carbon economy. This paper investigates how EU member states follow very distinct pathways of climate policy development within the last decade taking a variety of national characteristics into consideration. Following the more general capacity approach, it is argued that especially institutional affinities (styles of regulation), economic resources and production regimes (varieties of capitalism) play a major role in defining national climate policy pathways. Countries with a high percentage in renewable energy production (e.g. Sweden, Denmark) are contrasted with states characterized by strong international gas-dependency and very low investments in green technologies (e.g. the Baltic states, Poland). Moreover, economically rich members (e.g. Germany) increasingly benefit from EU wide regulations on climate mitigation using investments in green technologies and energy efficiency for economic stimulation. In contrast, countries most affected by economic crisis (Greece, Spain) hardly manage to reach their national emission targets by 2012. The analysis is based on a direct comparison of EU 25 member states using data of national climate policy instruments from the International Energy Agency. It clearly illustrates national developments in climate policy strategies from 1998-2008, and highlights diverging and converging national pathways in preferences for specific policy instruments (e.g. voluntary, economic, regulatory). A cluster analysis reveals five country groups characterized by specific types of national climate policy strategies which can be traced back to national characteristics such as economic, institutional and structural capacities. The results support the assumption that general public and institutional capacities within the member states matter despite of climate policy diffusion across national borders facilitated by EU intervention.
