Energy Poverty in the Czech Republic: Policy Framing

Last decade can be comprehended as a systematic effort of the European Commission, an agenda-setter, to raise awareness about the concern of energy poverty and instruct the Member States (MS) how to define, measure and combat it (Bouzarovski, 2018, 41-74; Pye & Dobbins, 2016; Rademeakers et al., 2016). The EU legislation brought some binding requirements, such as the Third Energy Package (2009/72/EC and 2009/73/EC) and draft amendments, which obliged the MS to define vulnerable customers and ensure their protection. The recent Clean Energy for all Europeans Package represents a further step forward, e.g. by understanding energy poverty as part of broader energy efficiency policies goals (Directive (EU) 2018/2002). However, the practical implementation of the EU Acquis is primarily on the shoulders of national policymakers. Though there is a sufficient number of national case studies, the question of how particular MS view the issue of energy poverty (with respect to the latest EU efforts) remains open. Previous research focused mostly on conceptualization and measurement of energy poverty (cf. Robinson, Bouzarovski & Lindley, 2017; Bouzarovski & Petrova, 2015; Legendre & Ricci, 2015), dealing with the matter mainly through the assessment of objective presence of energy poverty, identification of its main drivers and estimation of its consequences (cf. Bouzarovski & Tirado Herrero, 2017; Wysokiński, Trębska & Gromada, 2017; Lenz & Grgurev, 2017). However, there is comparably less research on the discursive side of the policy formation at the level of MS, even though some hints are present (cf. Carnegie LaBelle, 2017; Fuller & McCauley, 2016; Bouzarovski et al., 2016). We aim to contribute to this strand of research through study of the framing of energy poverty by national policymakers and actors relevant to the policy formation in the Czech Republic, where strong communist legacies are expected and only one overview paper on energy poverty exists (Karásek & Pojar, 2018). We use the theory of policy framing in order to understand the discursive practices of the policymakers. In line with extensive research on framing, we argue that ways how the policy issue is captured through the use of language affect which alternatives are considered viable and which not (Fischer, 2003; Hajer, 1995). The adoption of standalone policies addressing energy poverty is contingent not only on narratives employed by relevant policymakers as such but on subtle nuances of the language they use. Specific language affects perceptions and interpretations of the issue, as it invokes different interpretative schemas (Scheufele, 2000). The membership of the Czech Republic in the EU adds yet another layer of complexity to the national policy framing, as its political institutions further “delineate policy jurisdictions and structure policy debates” (Daviter, 2011, p. 27), creating space for both constructive policy formation, as well as political conflict (Daviter, 2011). The research is conducted through semi-structured interviews (Seidman, 2013) with relevant policy actors identified as important through a combination of the research of secondary national literature and snowball sampling. Interview transcripts are manually coded and reformulated into frames (cf. Matthes & Kohring, 2008).