The EU’s Energy Policy Agenda: Directions and Developments

Abstract

This chapter deals with the emergence and development of energy policy agendas in European institutions. The first part of the chapter identifies the broad lines in the development of energy policy in the EU over the last six decades. It starts out with a description of how energy policy making as well as its institutional framework have evolved since the foundation of the EU. In this context, the focus is on policies dealing with the generation and provision of energy. Hence, it addresses issues of energy mixes, energy security and energy infrastructure. The second part of the chapter offers an analysis of the patterns of agenda shaping regarding the development of a comprehensive EU energy policy that has been on the political agenda of the EU since the mid-2000s. The aim of the qualitative analysis is to assess the impact of situational factors (e.g. problem perception and framing) and institutional determinants (e.g. perceived authority) on the inter-institutional and internal energy policy agendas of different European institutions.