Renegotiating authority in the Energy Union: A Framework for Analysis

ABSTRACT

In a context of multiple crises, European Union (EU) energy policy is often identified as one of the few areas still exhibiting strong integration dynamics. However, this policy domain is not exempt from contestation and re-nationalization pressures. This collection seeks to understand better the contradictory integration and fragmentation tendencies by problematizing the notion of authority. While authority lies at the heart of European integration theory, less attention has been given to explaining when and why previously conferred authority becomes contested and how authority conflicts are addressed. In framing this collection, we build on sociological approaches to examine systematically the conferral of authority (what counts as authority and how it comes to be recognized) and its contestation (the types of contestation and strategies for managing authority conflicts). We focus this analytical discussion on the Energy Union, being an example of ‘hybrid area’, which sits uncomfortably at the nexus of different policy areas.

KEYWORDS:

• Authority
• contestation
• sovereignty
• governance
• energy policy

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the academic association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) for the funding of the Collaborative Research Network on European Energy Policy (2015-2018), which was the breeding ground for this special issue. We are also grateful for Universiteitsfonds Limburg (SWOL) for co-funding the authors’ workshop in Maastricht, in April 2018. In addition, one of the authors would also like to thank the EU-NormCon (Normative contestation in Europe: Implications for the EU in a changing global order) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for supporting her participation in the academic events where this paper was presented. Our thanks go also to the several colleagues who provided detailed comments on the papers of this collection: Katja Biedenkopf, Moniek de Jong, Helene Dyrhauge, Rosa Fernández, Quentin Genard, Luca Franza, Rene Kemp, Benjamin Sovacool, Ingmar Versolmann, as well as all the colleagues of the UACES CRN on European Energy Policy. Finally, we are also indebted to an anonymous reviewer and the JEI editors for the helpful comments and guidance on this introductory piece and all of the papers that comprise this special issue.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) [R201486].