Stakeholder consultation is vital for the emergence of innovative solutions to complex problems. While this is becoming increasingly important in EU energy and climate policy, there is ample room for improvements
Collaborative policy-making in EU energy policy to address climate change
This work investigates how stakeholder consultation processes influence the formation of energy policy in the European Union, analysing the formulation of the Energy Communication in 2007, whose explicit aim was to address climate change. A number of shortcomings are identified in how participatory processes took place, shortcomings which can inhibit the emergence of novel solutions for climate change to emerge.
Participatory methods for the inclusion of stakeholders in policy shaping have been increasing in the last decades, in the context of many social, economic and environmental issues. Participation of stakeholders is a way to establish new networks among the players in a policy-making system. Such participation enables and increases the flows of knowledge between these players, and enables environmental challenges, such as climate change, to be addressed in innovative ways. Vital for the emergence of innovative solutions to such challenges is the participation of diverse stakeholders representing different interests and perspectives. For the European Union, participatory policy formulation is also a necessary requirement for regulatory impact assessment, a pre-requisite for good governance.
Within the ADAM project a study was conducted into how stakeholder consultation processes influence the formation of energy policy in the EU, analysing the stakeholder consultations forums within DG TREN for the shaping of the Energy Communication in 2007. The results of the study indicate that there is room for improvement in the role of these consultations, especially with regards to addressing climate change. Our specific findings include:
* Scientific knowledge played a minimal role in the design of the consultations, and the actual discussions themselves.
* The participation in consultations was skewed, with limited inclusion of actors from civil society NGOs and the scientific community.
* Separating topics according to the administrative and bureaucratic jurisdiction of each Directorate-General can inhibit the integration of interlinked topics in the consultation forums, thus ignoring the inherent complexity of most contemporary problems.
* These participatory processes played a minimal role in the formulation of the Energy Communication 2007.
On a positive note, there are indications that with the establishment of new forums (such as the European Nuclear Energy Forum) stakeholder consultations are becoming increasingly important within DG TREN. Furthermore, stakeholder consultations are treated as dynamic elements in policy formation and attempts to stimulate true dialogue within these Forums are evident. In short, the study identifies a number of shortcomings in how participatory processes took place, but also reveals indications that the EU energy policy may be moving towards a more collaborative policy-making.
For further information see Work Package P3a or contact: Eleftheria Vasileiadou, Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,
