Book chapter

The EU Regulatory State, Commission Leadership and External Energy Governance

Eu External Energy Governance   Andersen  Goldthau  Sitter
Source: Bernt Rostad /​Flickr
By
Svein S. Andersen, Andreas Goldthau, Nick Sitter
15 Dec 2015, 
published in
Palgrave Macmillan

This collection focuses on the impact of the changing global distribution of power on the EU’s energy policy and ability to project its approach to energy-related issues abroad. The chapter discusses the EU as an actor in global energy, and shows that the EU – short of a strong set of policy tools – relies more than other players on exporting its own rules. It explores the areas in which the Commission is capable of exerting (regulatory) external power in the energy sector and assesses its actions with regards to the challenges facing the EU along the energy value chain: upstream, midstream and downstream. In conclusion, the chapter suggests that the Commission is emerging as an international actor that relies on the attractiveness of the EU’s domestic market in order to exert power beyond it.

The volume, titled EU Leadership in Energy and Environmental Governance? Global and Local Challenges and Responses and edited by Jakub M. Godzimirski, is available in hardcover and e‑book via Palgrave Macmillan.