Energy Policies
How can the Green Deal be implemented at all levels and synchronized with global governance? How are power strategies evolving, and under what conditions can they converge?
Related Subjects
COP28: A Tale of Money, Fossil Fuels, and Divisions
“Humanity has opened the gates of hell”, said the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during the Climate Ambition Summit, in New York, in September 2023, three months before COP28. The sense of urgency that he conveyed seems shared across the international community.
New Impulses for Stagnant Relationships - German-French Ministerial Council Meets in a New Format
As the doors of the illustrious Hôtel Beauharnais on Rue de Lille 78 swung open on the evening of 4 October, and the masses streamed into the German Embassy in Paris to celebrate German Unity Day, the reports of the currently strained state of Franco-German relations seemed almost surreal.
EU-Mercosur: An Unsolvable Trilemma Between Competition Rules, Normative Ambitions and Supply Chain Diversification
The EU-Mercosur trade deal was believed to be heading toward the finish. The election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as the president of Brazil, as successor to the right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro, and the Spanish presidency of the European Union (EU), raised hopes for its conclusion. But the reservations expressed by several EU member states and some Latin American countries have dashed hopes.
IRA: Towards Clean Hydrogen Leadership in the U.S.
Although late in adopting clean hydrogen (H2) and defining a national strategy–a draft was presented by the Department of Energy (DOE) in September 2022–, the United States (US) has strongly reinforced its support to clean hydrogen with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August 2022.
The European Green Deal Three Years On: Acceleration, Erosion, Fragmentation?
The European Green Deal (EGD) is the single most defining policy initiative of the von der Leyen Commission. Since its publication in December 2019, it has become the European Union’s (EU) new raison d’être: protecting the planet and Europeans from environmental degradation, through a holistic approach to the energy transition, while promoting sustainable growth and a just transition with no social group or territory left behind.
“Don’t Bank on the Bombs” New European Standards Affecting the Defense Industry
While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has underlined the need to upgrade the European armed forces, the urgency of the fight against climate change—as illustrated by reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—requires the political mobilization of the European Union (EU) to carry out the transition to climate neutrality.
Redefining the Netherlands' Energy Future : Societal Implications of the Nearing End of Dutch Natural Gas
For decades, the large Groningen gas field has been a central pillar of the Dutch welfare state. The availability of gas was so self-evident that many generations still identify with the slogan “Nederland gasland” (“The Netherlands, a gas country”). The nearing end of Dutch gas now requires a mentality shift.
The German Industrial Power in Danger: The Double Shock of Energy Transition and Geopolitical Risk
The German manufacturing industry at the heart of the German economic activity has been confronted in the past years with conjunctural shocks, which question its existence on the German territory: the energy transition which hinders it in the short term to resort to fossile energy from Germany and nuclear energy; a questioning of fossile energy imports from Russia which keeps production sites of fossile energy and nuclear energy in Germany; the currently small capacity of renewable energy to satisfy the important energy needs of the manufacturing industry and the putting into place of alternatives to the importation of energy resources.
Five Years after China’s Plastic Import Ban: Have Europeans Taken Responsibility?
After the 2017 Chinese waste import ban, the international and European Union (EU) legislative framework on waste exports has been revised.
The Impact of the War in Ukraine on the Energy Sector
The outbreak of war in Ukraine dealt a shock to energy markets.
IRA: Towards Clean Hydrogen Leadership in the U.S.
Although late in adopting clean hydrogen (H2) and defining a national strategy–a draft was presented by the Department of Energy (DOE) in September 2022–, the United States (US) has strongly reinforced its support to clean hydrogen with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August 2022.
The Green Deal’s External Dimension. Re-Engaging with Neighbors to Avoid Carbon Walls
The European Union (EU)’s Green Deal is a game changer with attention so far focused on forthcoming actions plans, the Climate Law, financial resources, the revision of the 2030 targets and of the emissions trading system (ETS).
Russia-Ukraine Gas Relations: The Mother of All Crises or a New Start to 2030?
Ten years after the January 2009 gas crisis, Russian-Ukrainian gas relations are at another turning point: the then concluded contracts are terminating on 31 December 2019. While trilateral talks brokered by the European Commission (EC) have started in July 2018, the real negotiations about the future of this relationship can be expected to start no earlier than in December, that is in the midst of the winter and a second to midnight. Crucial months lie ahead.
Xi Jinping’s Institutional Reforms: Environment over Energy?
During its two sessions (lianghui) in March 2018, the National People’s Congress (NPC) announced China’s most important institutional reforms in the last 30 years. These changes occurred right after Xi Jinping consolidated his power and at a time when stakeholders working in the energy field were expecting more clarity on policy orientations.
Romania: a key player in the Energy Union for the security of natural gas supply?
In 2015, Maroš Šefcovic, Vice President of the European Commission for Energy Union, was writing about Romania as being «at a crossroads - both in strategic and physical terms.
The Last-ditch Attempt to Build the Energy Union
Nearly one year after the presentation of the Energy Union project, while 2016 promises to be a critical year for its implementation, what is the status of this flagship project of the Juncker Commission?
Exploring the strengths and weaknesses of European innovation capacity within the Strategic Energy Technologies (SET) Plan
The purpose of this policy report is to explore the strengths and weaknesses of European innovation capacity within the Strategic Energy Technologies (SET) Plan Integrated Roadmap.
Ifri’s conference on the New Frontiers of Energy Identified Strategic Orientations for the European Energy Union
The Ifri Center for Energy held its annual conference in Brussels on March 4th, 2015. The event gathered more than 150 participants, together with prominent policy makers, industry leaders and distinguished academics to discuss how the European energy policy can deliver effective results in light of geopolitical upheavals, technological developments and governance issues.
To download the presentations, click here
Energy Union: What's Inside the Defence Walls?
Conflicts in Ukraine and Middle East are giving resonance to the proposal for an Energy Union, originated by Poland, and, initiated by the European Commission. Indeed, access to affordable energy stands as a major concern for all EU citizens and becomes, as such, a strong political argument for the Juncker Commission to back-up an Energy Union.
The European Energy Policy: Building New Perspectives
“After 17 years of supranationality, we are still seeking how to define a common energy policy and what it might be. [...] Could we have done more in one generation? Or were goals only established to achieve a political balance which it was explicitly agreed to ignore, once the machinery began to operate? Historians will have a hard task to distinguish between excessive ambitions and national hypocrisies”.
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