Drawing Policy Lessons from Cross-National Comparisons

Abstract

Policies to support wind power in Denmark, Germany and Spain have been developed over two decades, combining elements of continuity with systematic review and improvement. In France and the UK, policy development spans more than a decade, but the failed policy of calls to tender of the 1990s led to a switch in policy instruments in the early 2000s. This spread of European experience is a rich source of policy lessons. Accordingly, this chapter will focus on cross-national comparison and evaluation, and addresses the following core questions: Are policies on track to meet targets? What are the main lessons to be learnt from policy experiments across Europe? What recommendations can be made for improved policy design? Can a single policy template be applied across a number of nations? The first section analyses key consequences of the policy design of the two main categories of instruments currently used, namely feed-in tariffs and quota systems. The second section compares and evaluates these instruments, using the criteria of effectiveness and efficiency. The third section identifies explanations for differential performance, and on this basis recommendations for improved practice are made in the fourth section. The main argument is that on balance feed-in tariffs have performed better than quota systems, but that the lessons learnt from the former can — to an extent — be applied to the latter.