"Climate obstruction efforts in the EU"

In the course of European integration, the European Union (EU) has gained increasing competence in climate policy. European arenas of negotiation and decision making and the general orientation of the integration process are important determinants of national climate policies, and are accordingly contested. In contrast to some national arenas, the central element of opposition to ambitious climate action at the EU level has not been an aggressive denial of climate change. Obstruction efforts instead aim at the reduction of ambition and a market friendly shaping of climate policy initiatives. In order to observe relevant opposition to ambitious climate action the paper evaluates position papers and press releases from key associations within the EU such as BusinessEurope, Eurelectric, Eurogas, and ACEA, as well as output of European think tanks and networks such as the New Direction Foundation, Center for Eurpoean Policy and Epicenter apart from gathering information by way of informal background discussions and a review of the academic literature. By studying the positioning of key industry representatives and think tanks in the adoption of the taxonomy and the carbon adjustment mechanism / CO2 emissions trading we contribute to a better understanding of common narratives and strategies used in the obstruction of climate policy efforts. We also use data from the European Transparency Register to compare fossil and green lobby groups and to reconstruct the extent to which actors have been able to articulate their Climate Obstruction activities in direct contacts with the European Commission.