Abstract
Our contribution reviews the impact of the European energy governance regulation on the German energy transition (Energiewende). The German energy transition has largely been conceived as a national project of system transformation. Based on a close policy fit, the national strategy is aligned to European targets and policies, but still has only taken account of the European dimension of this transformation when this was beneficial for the implementation of national policies. The European governance regulation included in the European Commission’s ‘winter package’ in turn introduces a new type of stronger interaction and coordination which we define as a ‘horizontal joint decision-making+’ type governance. This governance relies on a densely meshed reporting structure leading to a structured dialogue between several groups of stakeholders within a member state, among member states and finally between each member state and the European Commission. The primary effects of this new governance type can be judged to be closely aligned to national German policy-setting, which explains the strong German support for the new governance proposal. However, the secondary effects of horizontal governance legislation and sectoral policies might lead to a stronger influence on German energy policies by both neighbouring EU member states and the European Commission.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
References
Barreto-Gómez, L., Schenk, C., & Althavale, S. (2016). Concerted action on the Renewable Energy Directive. Executive summary. Retrieved March 3, 2017, from http://www.ca-res.eu/fileadmin/cares/public/Reports/Final_Executive_Summary/CA-RES_Executive_Summary_2016.pdf
Becker Büttner Held. (2017). Energiepolitik News. Retrieved January 2017, from http://www.beckerbuettnerheld.de/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/newsletter/Newsletter_Energiepolitik/NL_Energiepolitik_1_2017.pdf
Börzel, T. A., & Risse, T. (2003). Conceptualizing the domestic impact of Europe. In K. Featherstone & C. M. Radaelli (Eds.), The politics of Europeanisation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Buck, M. (2016). Clean Energy for All Europeans-Das Winterpaket vom 30. November 2016. Wichtige Aspekte sowie Energie-und Klimapolitische Einordnung. Retrieved from https://www.agora-energiewende.de/fileadmin/Projekte/2016/De-Risking/praesentation_winterpaket_matthias_buck.pdf
CA EED. (2013). Concerted action for the energy efficiency directive. Retrieved March 3, 2017, from http://www.ca-eed.eu/
CA EPBD. (2012). Concerted action on the energy performance of buildings directive. Retrieved March 3, 2017, from http://www.epbd-ca.org/index.cfm?cat=home#objectives
Coalition for Energy Savings. (2013). Coalition guide to the energy efficiency directive. Retrieved March 3, 2017, from http://eedguidebook.energycoalition.eu/images/PDF/EED.pdf
Cowles, M. G., Caporaso, J. A., & Risse, T. (Eds.). (2001). Transforming Europe: Europeanization and domestic change. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Crisp, J. (2015). 27 Member states hit with EU legal action over energy efficiency. In euractiv. Retrieved March 26, 2015, from https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/27-member-states-hit-with-eu-legal-action-over-energy-efficiency/
Dehmer, D. (2014). Energieeffizienz. Nur warme Worte. In Tagesspiegel. Retrieved August 10, 2014, from http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/energieeffizienz-nur-warme-worte/10314422.html
European Commission. (2006, March 8). A European strategy for sustainable, competitive and secure energy. COM(2006) 105 final.
European Commission. (2016a). Memo. New Energy Union governance to deliver common goals. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. (2016b). Proposal for a regulation on the governance of the Energy Union. COM(2016) 759 final. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. (2016c). Impact assessment accompanying the document proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on the governance of the Energy Union. SWD(2016) 394 final. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. (2016d). Fitness check. Reporting, planning and monitoring obligations in the EU energy acquis. SWD(2016) 397 final. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. (2016e). Energy Efficiency Directive. Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency, amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC.
European Council. (2000). Presidency Conclusion, 23/24 March 2000. Lisbon.
European Parliament. (2017). Legislative train: Energy Union. Retrieved from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-resilient-energy-union-with-a-climate-change-policy
Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy. (2010a, September 28). Energiekonzept für eine umweltschonende, zuverlässige und bezahlbare Energieversorgung. Berlin.
Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy. (2010b). Energy concept for an environmentally sound, reliable and affordable energy supply. Berlin: BMWi. Retrieved from http://www.bmwi.de/English/Redaktion/Pdf/energy-concept,property=pdf,bereich=bmwi,sprache=en,rwb=true.pdf
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. (2015). Fifth “Energy Transition” monitoring report. The energy of the future 2015 reporting year. Hg. v. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). Online verfügbar unter www.bmwi.de.
Gawel, E., Strunz, S., & Lehmann, P. (2014). Wie viel Europa braucht die Energiewende? Zeitschrift für Energiewirtsch, 38, 163–182.
Hake, J.-F., Fischer, W., Venghaus, S., & Weckenbrock, C. (2015). The German Energiewende–history and status quo. Energy, 92, 532–546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2015.04.027.
Hartlapp, M. (2009). Learning about policy learning. Reflections on the European employment strategy. In European Integration Online Papers, Jg. 13, H. Special Issue 1, Art. 7.
Ifo-Institut. (2013). Koordination von Innovations-, Energie- und Umweltpolitik. Studien zum deutschen Innovationssystem, Nr. 10-2013. Retrieved September 28, 2017, from http://www.e-fi.de/fileadmin/Innovationsstudien_2013/StuDIS_10_2013_ifo.pdf
International Energy Agency. (2013). Energy policies of IEA Countries. Germany 2013 review. Paris: IEA.
Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen, S. I., Jollands, N., & Staudt, L. (2012). Global governance for sustainable energy: The contribution of a global public goods approach. Ecological Economics, 83, 11–18.
Kemmerzell, J., & Knodt, M. (2017, September 6–9). European energy transitions compared. Building blocks of a framework for analysis. Paper presented at the ECPR General Conference, Oslo.
Knodt, M. (2018). Energy policy. In H. Heinelt, & S. Münch (Eds.), Handbook of European policies: Interpretive approaches to the EU. Palgrave, 224–240.
Knodt, M., & Ringel, M. (2017). “Soft” governance in European Energy Policy. The “Winter Package” for the Energy Union of the European Commission. Joint Working Paper Series of Mainz Papers on International and European Politics (MPIEP) No. 14 and Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence “EU in Global Dialogue”, CEDI, Working Paper Series No. 6. Mainz: Chair of International Relations, Johannes Gutenberg University.
Knodt, M., & Stoiber M. (2010). Comparative politics in the context of multilevel analysis. Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft 1/2010, supplement, online version.
Kooiman, J. (2002). Governance: A socio-political perspective. In J. Grote & B. Gbikpi (Eds.), Participatory governance: Political and societal implications (pp. 71–96). Opladen: Leske + Budrich.
Lehr, U., & Lutz, C. (2016). German Energiewende – quo vadis? In R. Bardazzi, M. G. Pazienza, & A. Tonini (Eds.), European energy and climate security. Public policies, energy sources, and Eastern partners (Lecture Notes in Energy) (Vol. 31, 1st ed., pp. 203–232). Cham: Springer.
Linsenmann, I., & Meyer, C. (2002). Dritter Weg, Übergang oder Teststrecke? Theoretische Konzeption und Praxis der offenen Politikkoordinierung. Integration, 25(4), 285–296.
Meyer-Ohlendorf, N. (2015). An effective governance system for 2030 EU climate and energy policy: Design and requirements. Discussion Paper. Ecologic Discussion Paper Series, 2015, 1–25. Retrieved March 3, 2017, from http://ecologic.eu/sites/files/publication/2015/meyer-ohlendorf-15-effective-governance-syystem-2030.pdf
Ministerium für Inneres und Kommunales des Landes Nordrhein-Westphalens 2014.
Müller, F., Knodt, M., & Piefer, N. (2015). Conceptualizing emerging powers and EU energy governance: Towards a research agenda. In N. Piefer, & F. Müller (Eds.), Challenges of EU external energy governance towards emerging powers (pp. 17–32). Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
Nesbit, M. (2014). Getting delivery right: The EU 2030 climate and energy targets and the challenge of governance. Retrieved March 3, 2017, from http://www.ieep.eu/assets/1659/IEEP_EU2030_governance_paper.pdf
Rave, T. (2012). Politikkoordinierung im Rahmen der Energiewende. Beispiel Emissionshandelssystem und Förderung erneuerbarer Energien. ifo Schnelldienst, 66(12), 23–36.
Ringel, M. (2016). European best practices for M&V schemes and coordination mechanisms. MultiEE report. Horizon 2020 project on multi-level governance for energy efficiency (2016). Retrieved from http://multee.eu/system/files/EU_Best_Practice_for_M%26V_schemes_%26_Coordination_Mechanisms_0.pdf
Ringel, M., & Knodt, M. (2018). The governance of the European Energy Union. Efficiency, effectiveness and acceptance of the Winter Package 2016. Energy Policy, 112, 209–220.
Ringel, M., Schlomann, B., Krail, M., & Rohde, C. (2016). Towards a green economy in Germany? The role of energy efficiency policies. Applied Energy, 179(1), 1293–1303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.03.063.
Sajn, N. (2017, March 2). Revised energy efficiency directive. European Parliamentary Research Service, 1–8.
Scharpf, F. W. (2006). The joint-decision trap revisited. Journal of Common Market Studies, 44(4), 845–864.
Scharpf, F. W., Reissert, B., & Schnabel, F. (1976). Politikverflechtung. Theorie und Empirie des kooperativen Föderalismus in der Bundesrepublik. Kronberg: Scriptor.
Schlomann, B., Reuter, M., Lapillonne, B., Pollier, K., & Rosenow, J. (2014). Monitoring of the “Energiewende”. Energy efficiency indicators for Germany. Karlsruhe: Fraunhofer ISI.
Schmid, G., & Kull, S. (2005). Die Europäische Beschäftigungsstrategie. Perspektiven der Offenen Methode der Koordinierung. In H. Kaelble & G. Schmid (Eds.), Das europäische Sozialmodell. Auf dem Weg zum transnationalen Sozialstaat (pp. 317–343). Berlin: Edition Sigma.
Schmid, E., Knopf, B., & Pechan, A. (2016). Putting an energy system transformation into practice. The case of the German Energiewende. Energy Research & Social Science, 11, 263–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2015.11.002.
Schmitter, P. (2002). Participation in governance arrangements: Is there any reason to expect it will achieve “sustainable and innovative policies in a multi-level context”? In J. K. Grote & B. Gbikpi (Eds.), Participatory governance: Political and societal implications (pp. 51–69). Wiesbaden: Springer.
Stephenson, P. (2013). Twenty years of multi-level governance: ‘Where does it come from? What is it? Where is it going?’. Journal of European Public Policy, 20(6), 817–837.
Suomi, U. (2015). CA EED reports – Core theme series reports covering work from January 2013 to March 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2017, from http://www.esd-ca.eu/outcomes/core-theme-series-reports/ca-eed-reports-covering-work-from-january-2013-to-march-2015/(theme)/7040
Turner, S. (2015). Embedding principles of good governance into the 2030 climate & energy framework. Retrieved March 3, 2017, from https://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/renewable_energy/2015/turner_2015-six_principles_of_good_governance.pdf
Turner, S., Genard, Q., Roberts, J., & Luebbke, I. (2015). Four key messages for the governance of the European climate and energy policies after 2030. Retrieved March 3, 2017, from https://www.e3g.org/docs/E3G_Four_Key_Messages_for_the_governance_of_EU_climate_and_energy_policies_after_2020_V2.pdf
Umpfenbach, K. (2017). Die Energiewende als europäisches Projekt. Chancen, Reibungspunkte, Handlungsoptionen. Schriftenreihe Ökologie. Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. Retrieved April 2017, from https://www.boell.de/sites/default/files/e-paper-die-energiewende-als-europaeisches-projekt.pdf
Wilson, A. B. (2017). Briefing: Governance of the Energy Union. European Parliamentary Research Service, 1–8. Retrieved March 2, 2017, from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2017/599279/EPRS_BRI(2017)599279_EN.pdf
Acknowledgment
The research presented in this contribution is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Reference: 03SFK4P0, Consortium ENavi, Kopernikus).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Knodt, M., Ringel, M. (2019). Creating Convergence of National Energy Policies by Increased Cooperation: EU Energy Governance and Its Impact on the German Energy Transition. In: Gawel, E., Strunz, S., Lehmann, P., Purkus, A. (eds) The European Dimension of Germany’s Energy Transition. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03374-3_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03374-3_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03373-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-03374-3
eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)