Mapping a Public Pathway for Europe’s Energy Transition

It was less than three years ago that Western sanctions against Russia in the wake of the latter’s invasion of Ukraine triggered an energy crisis across Europe. Gas and oil prices, already high following disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, skyrocketed in a matter of weeks, driving millions of families into energy poverty and threatening industrial production across the continent. Soon enough, the energy crisis evolved into a generalized cost-of-living crisis, punishing workers and vulnerable population groups, and making it clear that the situation was far from under control.

Although the European institutions publicly acknowledged the urgent need for reforms, their concrete actions often seemed to contradict those declarations, proposing only minor adjustments to the electricity market while failing to address the structural deficiencies of the European energy system as a whole. As the social crisis grew and the EU continued to equivocate, local campaigning groups and social justice organizations faced the herculean challenge of addressing citizens’ immediate concerns without losing sight of long-term demands and needs. It is in this context that we commissioned Mapping a Public Pathway for Europe’s Energy Transition, a comprehensive survey of and response to not only the latest round of crisis, but the evolution of the European regulatory and political framework since the launch of the EU’s internal energy market in 1996.

Several seminars convened by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Brussels established a working group of energy experts from a variety of organizations and countries, who then joined Trade Unions for Energy Democracy’s efforts in laying out a detailed proposal for a European energy transition in the face of grave social and economic challenges. By adopting a historical lens, the present study sheds light on the ongoing redefinition of energy as a commercial good embedded in competition and market rules, and explores the multiple layers that constitute the contemporary European energy system, all the way up to the EU Green Deal and REPowerEU programmes. Based on an analysis of the political economy of the energy sector, the publication subsequently lays out the contradictions, limitations, and obstacles to reaching the climate goals the EU has set for itself.

This collective effort also highlights the growing contradiction between liberalization of the electricity and energy markets and the EU’s declared goal of fully decarbonizing the European economy. While the current shape of the energy market will continue to fuel rising prices, thereby harming both European citizens as well as the industry as such, the market incentives and de-risking schemes that form the backbone of Europe’s energy transition will fail to meet climate targets, while continuously drawing on scarce public funds to shore up private investors’ profits.

In light of those findings, the study goes on to lay the groundwork for a plan to restore a publicly and democratically owned energy system at the European level. From production and distribution to the public financing of utilities and infrastructure, the publication guides us through the rapidly growing policy options that policy makers will need to put in place to meet the complex energy challenges of our times. In order for that to happen, however, trade unions, social movements, and climate justice activists must join forces in demanding and designing a model in which energy is treated not as a commodity for private speculation but as a human right and public good. It is our sincere hope that Mapping a Public Pathway for Europe’s Energy Transition will provide them with a valuable resource in that essential endeavour.

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