Policy Networks in the Transition of EU’s Electricity System

EU’s climate and energy policy is characterized by a large amount of involved actors with vested interests and high stakes. In order to achieve the targets set out by the 2030 Climate and Energy Framework, the EU is preparing new and revised legislation to ensure that the Member States deliver. With increasing shares of renewable energy in Europe’s electricity mix, the configuration of the system is changing. This influences EU legislation in the electricity sector substantially, and it remains to see in which direction main policies will evolve. Two central pillars in this process are the renewable energy directive and the electricity market directive. Understanding the underlying policy process of the changing electricity legislation is essential to ensure that the EU manages to achieve the 2030 targets. Many of the MSs will need to adopt ambitious policies because of the revised EU legislation, and there is a variety of actors involved at different governance levels. The paper assesses positions and preferences of key actors with respect to the development of the electricity system in general and these two directives in particular. Key actors include a sample of 40 lobbyist actors (companies, associations and NGOs), as well as the EU MSs and the main EU institutions. Our analysis is organized around two main dimensions: 1) The level of ambition for RES, and 2) The development of the electricity system towards increased decentralization or centralization. As its overall theoretical approach, the paper applies the advocacy coalition framework. It identifies main coalitions by discerning the actor’s policy beliefs and assesses these separately from their secondary aspects. Further, we apply a network analysis where we identify the level and degree of coordination and exchange between the actors in order to confirm the findings about potential coalitions from the belief’s analysis. Our main data are consultation responses to the European Commission on two recent consultations on the above-mentioned directives. In addition to this rich data source, we carry out interviews with key lobbyist actors, representatives from EU MSs and EU institutions. We expect to find a set of important coalitions that work to promote their interests in the new legislation. Given the current debate around the EU energy transition, it remains to see whether the actor’s preferences regarding the direction of the system towards more centralization or decentralization is identified as more salient than the preference regarding scope and pace of RES deployment in the EU. The results will deliver valuable insights into the policy making process associated with EU’s strategy for meeting important GHG emission reduction targets.