The European Commission and the European Council: Coordinated Agenda setting in European energy policy

Abstract:

The post-Maastricht era is characterised by a growing importance of the European Council in the integration of various policy-fields. In this respect, EU energy policy is no exception. The fragmentation in three coexisting strands and external shocks has emphasised the need for intergovernmental coordination and oversight. This new intergovernmentalism, exemplified prominently by the recent move towards Energy Union, is surprising in two respects. On the one hand, energy is an area of diverse member state interests that repeatedly thwarted ambitious plans for deepening European integration. On the other hand, the European Council’s new intergovernmentalism challenges the classical role of the European Commission in the field that was rooted in its single market competence. However, rather than implying a shift in the interinstitutional balance, developments of the past decade reveal increased cooperation between the two key institutions and flexible working mechanisms through which the Commission has retained substantial policy initiative capacities.