Spreading Renewables: The EU and Beyond

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has developed ambitious policies on renewable energy and other climate change responses. The enlargement of the EU in the 2000s meant that a range of Central and Eastern European countries had to accommodate to these policies. This chapter looks at the renewable energy policy aspects of the enlargement process and how the new member states developed their renewable resources, aided by the EU. Although there were problems, some of the new EU countries did very well—indeed, often as well or better than some countries in the existing EU. The chapter then looks at examples of the situation in countries bordering the EU, where, in many cases, although the potential is very large, progress has not so far been so spectacular.