Blockades in Brussels? Central and Eastern Europe in EU Energy and Climate Decision-Making

Central and Eastern Europe countries have often been regarded as climate and energy policy laggards blocking more ambitious EU decarbonization targets in the EU. This paper analyses voting behavior in this policy field in the two main arenas of EU decision-making: the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. These arenas underlie different internal logics. While consensual decision-making dominates the Council, the European Parliament is dominated by transnational party groups. By looking at over two dozen decisions concerning energy and climate policies both in the Council and the EP, we analyze how CEE parties are able to represent domestic interests at the Brussels level. Our findings indicate that national considerations outweigh party political ones, but also show high within-policy field variation.