Towards an Optimal EU Climate Policy

Sebastian Oberthür und Simon Marr

Towards an Optimal EU Climate Policy

Event: Workshop
Date: 20 February 2013
Location: Brussels, Belgium

As its first outreach activity, the research project CECILIA2050 staged a stakeholder workshop on future directions for EU climate policies on 20 February 2013. Sixty researchers, EU officials, and NGO and Member State representatives came to Brussels to discuss the path to an optimal 2050 EU climate policy mix. Initial results from country case studies (Germany, Spain, Italy, and the UK) were presented. A panel of five distinguished experts discussed current trends in EU climate policy. The presentations are available for download.

The event, organised by Ecologic Institute as project leader, attracted a wide range of stakeholders. Benjamin Görlach, project coordinator, presented the overall methodology of CECILIA2050 and what it aims to accomplish over the coming 2.5 years. He also presented the project's working definition of "what constitutes optimal climate policy" and explained how the CECILIA2050 view on optimality extends the perspective of classical economics, by taking into account the interactions between different instruments and the feasibility of different approaches.

The participants agreed in a quick poll conducted at the event that climate effectiveness is the central requirement for climate policy instruments. However, policy instruments should also meet other criteria, such as transparency, predictability/regulatory certainty, cost-effectiveness and public acceptance.

Representatives from the project partners (including Gesa Homann, Ecologic Institut) presented their first analysis of so-called "policy landscapes" (the mix of policies used in a particular area of climate policy, such as in "support of renewable energy") and how it measures against the optimality criteria. They presented examples of instrument interactions in four selected countries (Germany, Spain, Italy and United Kingdom). A first assessment of the optimality of the current instrument mix was discussed with the participants.

In the afternoon, a high level panel of experts, chaired by Ecologic Institute’s Matthias Duwe, shared their views on the topic with each other and the audience. Stefaan Vergote from the European Commission's DG CLIMA outlined the process in which the future of EU climate policy post-2020 will be discussed over the coming months, which will include stakeholder consultations. Jason Anderson from WWF's European Policy Office shared his sense of urgency in the need for improving overall ambition of EU climate policy. Jesse Scott of Eurelectric emphasised her belief that market-based mechanisms are the most optimal climate policy instruments. Simon Marr of the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) in Germany appraised the situation from a combined national and EU perspective and suggested that a notion of solidarity should enter into the evaluation of climate policy. The director of the Institute for European Studies at the Free University of Brussels, Sebastian Oberthür, provided a concise 5 point assessment of the state of EU climate policy, including the need to consider the wide range of policy fields now connected to climate that need to be take into account (such as grid planning).

Sebastian Oberthür, Institute for European Studies

Simon Marr, Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit

Jason Anderson, Stefaan Vergote und Matthias Duwe

Jason Anderson, WWF

Stefaan Vergote, EU-Kommission, GD Klima

Stefaan Vergote, Matthias Duwe

Luis Rey (Mitte), BC3, bei der Vorstellung der spanischen Fallstudie

Gesa Homann (Mitte), Ecologic Institut, stellt die deutsche Fallstudie vor

Contact

Benjamin Görlach

Head, Economics and Policy Assessment

Senior Fellow

Policy Instruments for Low-carbon Development

Based on work from the EUFP7 project, CECILIA2050

Year 2017

Publication:Newsletter

Ecologic Institute (2012-2015): CECILIA2050 Newsletter. Newsletter. Berlin: Ecologic Institute.

CECILIA2050 Newsletter

Year 2012 - 2015

Publication:Report

Bausch, Camilla et al.. 2015. European governance and the low-carbon pathway: Analysis of challenges and opportunities arising from overlaps between climate and energy policy as well as from centralisation of climate policies. CECILIA2050 WP4 Deliverable 4.2. Berlin: Ecologic Institute.

European Governance and the Low-Carbon Pathway

Analysis of challenges and opportunities arising from overlaps between climate and energy policy and from centralisation of climate policies

Year 2015

Event:Workshop

From 1 June to 11 June 2015, the meeting of the Subsidiary Bodies for the UN climate negotiations in the lead up to COP21 took place in Bonn (Germany). Members of the CECILIA2050 consortium hosted a side event entitled "Improving Europe's Climate Policy Toolbox to Reach the 2050 Low-Carbon Targets: Insights from the CECILIA2050 Project."

Improving Europe's Climate Policy Toolbox to Reach the 2050 Low-Carbon Targets

9 June 2015
Bonn, Germany

Event:Conference

The CECILIA2050 project held its final conference, entitled "EU Climate Policy Beyond 2020 – Options for a Low-Carbon Future", on 30 June 2015 in Brussels (Belgium). This high-level event on the future of EU climate and energy policy presented insights and lessons-learned from the CECILIA2050 research project.

EU Climate Policy Beyond 2020 – Options for a Low-Carbon Future

30 June 2015
Brussels, Belgium

Publication:Document

Since 2007, the European Council has played an increasingly active role in shaping the details of future EU climate policies. This involvement raises important questions about potential interference by the European Council regarding the decision-making process for and content of the implementation of the 2030 climate framework. In a broader perspective, concerns have been raised about the establishment of a constitutional practice, which could in fact circumvent the possibility of adopting implementing acts by qualified majority vote. This would alter the balance of power between the EU institutions. Ecologic Institute's Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf discusses the role and mandate of the European Council. The paper is available for download.

Can the European Council Impose Consensus on EU Climate Policies?

Year 2015

Publication:Report

Zelljadt, Elizabeth, 2014. Scenarios for international climate policy instruments. WP5 Deliverable 5.1. Berlin, Ecologic Institute.

Scenarios for International Climate Policy Instruments

Year 2014

Publication:Report

As part of the project CECILIA2050, which examines policy options to improve European climate policies, this report specifically analyzes greenhouse gases reduction potential in the transport sector. After giving an overview of policy instruments in this sector, the authors review transport elasticities and highlight limits to carbon pricing in the road transport sector.

Climate Policies and the Transport Sector

Analysis of Policy Instruments, their Interactions, Barriers and Constraints, and Resulting Effects on Consumer Behaviour

Year 2013

Publication:Report

This report, created as part of the CECILIA2050 project, gives an overview of climate policy approaches in Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, as well as the European Union as a whole. After highlighting the different legal and institutional structures, it provides conclusions and recommendations regarding the regulatory approach.