The Eu's Climate-Energy Policy – Multi-Level Dissonance?

Much has been made of the multilevel reinforcement which characterized the EU’s efforts to develop an effective climate and energy policy over the last few decades: intra-EU bargaining delivered policies which both reinforced – and were reinforced by – the Union’s activism in global discussions on climate change.  In the last five years, however, the factors which fed that reinforcement have been eroded by economic crisis, a changing mix of national and EU policies giving greater weight to energy security and competitiveness and a shifting balance of power in climate diplomacy.  The paper draws upon concepts of policy reversal and agenda-setting to explain why one of the EU’s flag-ship policies has lost momentum and considers what conditions might promote its revival.