Oscar Fitch-Roy

An offshore wind union? Diversity and convergence in European offshore wind governance

Offshore wind megaprojects in European waters have significant carbon abatement potential and increasing their number is a policy goal for several European maritime nations. But experience has shown that governance of large-scale, commercial offshore wind development is not straightforward. It is found that in five EU member states, policy innovation intended to enable investment in offshore wind projects is leading to a convergence upon a distinctive European model of offshore wind governance. The European Union appears to play numerous roles in this process and further research into how offshore wind policy innovation propagates in the EU is warranted. Policy relevance The governance of offshore wind megaproject development places specific demands on several areas of policy. This article firstly provides an account of recent developments in how offshore wind governance functions in some of the most important offshore wind-using nations. Secondly, the discussion of the EUs role in shaping offshore wind governance will inform future debates about the proper role of the EU in enabling investment in these megaprojects. Thirdly, the fact that policy appears to be converging raises questions about how policy is transmitted between EU member states, the answers to which could be valuable to policy makers looking at other areas of energy governance. Finally, the observed trend of increasing centralization of decision-making should be of interest to policy makers mindful of the role of scale and decentralization in debates about energy governance.

Introduction and Context

This chapter surveys the historical development of climate and energy policy in the EU and the attendant scholarly attention paid to environmental and climate policy and politics. The significance of the 2030 framework for the future direction of EU climate mitigation efforts is set out, the authors arguing that the policy represents a distinct shift towards technology neutrality. Following an overview of the literature on EU interest groups and socio-technical transitions, the chapter concludes by identifying the impact of interest groups on the policy agenda as the focus of the study.

Conclusions and Discussion

This chapter lays out the principal findings that flow from the preceding analysis and reflects on them in the light of the original objectives of the research. A range of findings is presented which largely complement existing explanations, although they also emphasise the potential for the idea of ‘technology neutrality’ to drive both cohesion and division in the policy community. This complicating factor is offered as an additional explanation for the nature of the 2030 EU climate and energy targets. Finally, the chapter assesses the book’s contribution to existing theoretical and empirical literature.

The Problem Stream

This chapter describes what Kingdon calls the ‘problem stream’. The chapter sets out the debate surrounding the connected issues of ‘energy’ and ‘climate’ topics and outline the issues vying for European policymakers’ attention in the year or so leading up to the European Commission’s 2014 Communication on the Energy and Climate Framework for 2030. The conceivable list of potential problems relevant to the policy area may be extremely large but the list that actually receives attention is necessarily much shorter. The chapter focusses on problems of energy supply, environmental sustainability and the cost of energy.

The Politics Stream

The politics stream represents the large-scale political trends in which the policy process is embedded. This chapter provides an account of the politics stream, tracing important national and European political trends such as the rise of populist sentiment, as reflected in the 2014 European Parliamentary elections and the decline of public concern for climate issues following the 2009 international climate conference. The member state positions ahead of the October 2014 EU summit which decided the 2030 targets are analysed, concluding that consensus around climate and energy priorities was in short supply.

The Policy Stream

John Kingdon expresses the significance of ideas in his vision of the policy process by paraphrasing Victor Hugo: ‘Greater than the tread of mighty armies is an idea whose time has come’. The policy stream is where ideas are born and developed, combined and recombined, polished and prepared for their moment in the sun. This chapter follows the Brussels climate and energy policy community concerned as it trials tests and contests ideas about the 2030 targets in the several years leading up to 2014. The significant divisions within the policy community wrought by ideas are explored towards the end of the chapter.

Negotiating the EU’s 2030 Climate and Energy Framework

In 2014, European heads of state selected new targets for the EU as part of the 2030 climate and energy framework. These targets will guide the ambition and nature of EU policy in this area until 2030 and are likely to have important implications for Europe’s transition to a low-carbon economy. This book exposes the role of civil society and business interest groups in setting the policymaking agenda and defining the range of options for the framework. Based on a unique sample of 32 in-depth interviews with Brussels policy elites, this book casts EU interest representation in a new light. In a novel application of the ‘multiple streams approach’, sequential chapters present the problems faced by policymakers, the range of policy options available to address them and the political constraints within which policy entrepreneurs attempted to attached policies to problems.

Connecting the Streams

For policy change to occur, a policy window must open to allow a policy entrepreneur to connect their preferred solution to a salient problem. This chapter shows that, while a policy window did open in 2013 and 2014, it was narrower and harder for policy actors to navigate than the unambiguous opportunity for change that was present in 2007. Within this complex and unpredictable environment, none of the observed attempts at entrepreneurship were unqualified successes, despite some notable achievements.

Wipeout? entrepreneurship, policy interaction and the EU’s 2030 renewable energy target

ABSTRACT In 2014, the European Council set energy and climate targets for 2030 that will have far-reaching implications for the decarbonisation of Europe’s economy as well as the nature and success of the energy integration project, the Energy Union. The targets mark a qualitative shift towards a more technology-neutral EU climate and energy policy than represented in targets for 2020, decided in 2007. Existing explanations emphasise the role of non-state actors but do not fully account for the muted advocacy for a multiple targets approach. This article examines the alternative explanatory power of the concepts of problem surfing and spillover, taken from the multiple streams approach, for interpreting the inability of multiple targets advocates to make a real impact on the policy agenda. Findings suggest that the problematisation of the EU’s ‘flagship’ instrument, the EU-ETS, by policy entrepreneurs and subsequent structural internal alignment of the policy community offer a complementary explanation.