Blog: Does the European Commission’s Climate Change Department Make a Difference?

In my earlier blog post in March 2014 the author argued that the creation of DG Clima — the European Commission’s climate change department — was a conscious political choice by Commission President Barroso in 2009.

At the time, commentators and policy-makers disagreed on the potential impact of DG Clima on climate policy: some, such as Professor Reinhilde Veugelers from the Bruegel think tank argued that the creation of DG Clima would underline the EU’s seriousness on climate change and facilitate climate policy integration and coordination.

In contrast, Green MEP Claude Turmes expressed concern that DG Clima could lock in market-based approaches to climate policy and thereby shut out other policy tools and that it could weaken DG Environment.

More than four years after DG Clima’s creation, the author seeks to take stock of the policy impact of DG Clima. He argues that DG Clima matters for EU climate policy, but that this influence stems more from Commissioner Connie Hedegaard’s influence in domestic and international arenas than from structural factors.

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