Awaiting the New Climate and Energy Package: Confusion on Merging Agendas and Crucial Need for Coherence

Can climate change still be integrated as an environmental concern in energy and industrial policy, or is competitiveness the strongest argument for decision-makers?

 

We will soon have an answer by the very fact that agendas and calendars are merging. Rumours are now saying that, in addition to the concomittant presentation of the climate and energy policy and a new industrial policy on 22 January 2014, EU governments have now announced to merge two consecutive meetings on energy prices (planned in February) and climate policy (planned in March) into one single joint European Council meeting on 20-21 March. The news service Energy Post is reporting in detail on that news. Beside the positive reduction of costs of holding one single meeting instead of two, this reflects the pressure the economic reality of high energy costs (for most EU Member States) is putting on environmental policy, hereby climate policy.

 

That there is a need for coherence, it is obvious. But the question which can be raised is: WHERE there is a need for coherence: is it between climate and competitiveness/industrial agendas, or within the EU climate policy as such, questionning its capacity and manner to integrate into other EU policies?

 

It should be reminded here that, from a legal point of view, climate change in mentioned once in the Treaties, as a component of the EU environmental policy in Article 191 TFEU. The principle of integration of environmental protection requirements into the definition and implementation of other policies and activities of the EU is defined in Article 11 TFEU.

 

In a Europe counting now 28 realities, the Commission and then the EU are to propose and decide on the next joint strategic move for EU climate and industrial policy at the benefit of the EU as a whole. But a move it must be as statu quo would be more damaging than a slight change.

 

This blog will cover, hopefully, the next coherent moves.