The REPowerEU Plan: A ‘geopolitical Commission’ in energy policy and its pitfalls

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been promoting the concept of a ‘geopolitical Commission’ since her appointment in late 2019. Since then, successive crises – the Covid-19 pandemic, the ever-worsening climate crisis and the war in Ukraine – have tested the Commission’s intention to turn the concept into practice, not least because the EU has had to become more proactive in international politics to address the consequences of the crises. This is particularly evident in the field of energy politics following Russia’s attack on Ukraine. When the war started, Russia was the EU’s largest energy supplier. The EU’s desire to end its energy dependency on Russia called for ‘geopolitical actorness’, notably swift political and diplomatic initiatives to find alternative suppliers considering the rapidly changing geopolitical circumstances. How did this occur? Did the Commission live up to its plan of becoming a ‘geopolitical actor’ in the field of energy politics? The article addresses these questions through an analysis of the core policy documents of the REPowerEU Plan, published by the Commission in May 2022 (i.e. Communications COM(2022)230, Save Energy, Solar Strategy, External Energy Engagement), and of subsequent policy and diplomatic practice. The article argues that, after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the Commission attempted to be a geopolitical actor in energy policy, a process that involves institutional change in terms of self-conceptions and policy practice. It also discusses the main issues that the process may entail, such as deprioritising climate action, exacerbating international tensions, and reproducing neocolonial trade relations.