Cross-Sectoral Policy Integration in Energy Governance: The EU and International Governmental Organizations Compared

In the European Union (EU), the Single European Act introduced environmental policy integration as a principle, which – simply put – rests on the conviction that no effective environmental policy can be formulated unless it is coordinated with decisions in cognate policy areas. The Lisbon Treaty reiterated this principle, but now more integration principles are incorporated in the title outlining the general principles, including the integration of energy-related consideration in policy-making. Similar moves to strengthen the importance of energy issues can be observed for a number of international governmental organizations (IGOs). How do the EU and IGOs embrace energy policy integration? What is their strategic reason for that? Empirically, we concentrate on the EU and the following IGOs involved in global energy governance: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Group of 7/ Group of 8 (G7/8), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the UN Environment Program (UNEP), the World Bank (WB), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Since all institutions address different topics, we argue that they will address energy policy integration to such a degree and in such way that it is in line with and supports their respective organizational purposes and goals.