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The COVID-19 pandemic and the EU: From a sustainable energy transition to a green transition?

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  • Crnčec, Danijel
  • Penca, Jerneja
  • Lovec, Marko

Abstract

The article examines the implications held by the EU's response to the COVID-19 pandemic for the green transition as set by the European Green Deal. It distinguishes changes in: (a) the use of policy instruments; (b) governance principles; and (c) the prioritising of policy goals as expressed via the conceptual framework of orders of change. The article assesses the extent of these changes as well as the patterns and regional variations among EU Member States, together with the Commission's role in pushing for preferential energy policy choices and encouraging the Member States' ambitions. The analysis shows the EU Energy Union governance framework was promoting the EU's climate targets' full integration into the EU's energy transition policy instruments (first order of change) even before the European Green Deal. Still, the EU's response to the COVID-19 crisis created strong financial and policy leverage to accelerate the green transition and gave an opportunity to close the gap between less ambitious and more ambitious EU countries. Many countries traditionally reliant on EU funds seized this opportunity, demonstrating the role of changed governance principles (the second order of change). However, the crisis has had an evolutionary impact, not a revolutionary one. While coherence between the energy and climate goals remains high, the EU's energy transition is falling short in fully integrating biodiversity (which would constitute a full paradigmatic, third-order change), despite this being an essential component of the EU's green transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Crnčec, Danijel & Penca, Jerneja & Lovec, Marko, 2023. "The COVID-19 pandemic and the EU: From a sustainable energy transition to a green transition?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:175:y:2023:i:c:s0301421523000381
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113453
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gasparatos, Alexandros & Doll, Christopher N.H. & Esteban, Miguel & Ahmed, Abubakari & Olang, Tabitha A., 2017. "Renewable energy and biodiversity: Implications for transitioning to a Green Economy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 161-184.
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    4. Frank Schimmelfennig, 2018. "Liberal Intergovernmentalism and the Crises of the European Union," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(7), pages 1578-1594, November.
    5. Erb, Karl-Heinz & Haberl, Helmut & Plutzar, Christoph, 2012. "Dependency of global primary bioenergy crop potentials in 2050 on food systems, yields, biodiversity conservation and political stability," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 260-269.
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    1. Artur Pawłowski & Paweł Rydzewski, 2023. "Challenges and Opportunities for the Energy Sector in the Face of Threats Such as Climate Change and the COVID-19 Pandemic—An International Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-21, May.
    2. Mišík, Matúš & Nosko, Andrej, 2023. "Post-pandemic lessons for EU energy and climate policy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Introduction to a special issue on EU green recovery in the post-Covid-19 period," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).

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