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11. Eco-nomics: A green industrial policy for the next European Commission

Author:
Susi Dennison and Mats Engström
Publication Date:
07-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
Abstract:
The new European Commission will seek to improve Europe’s capacity to manufacture green technologies. Member states agree on this headline aim, but they are divided on how to achieve it and the level of priority to give it. Some member states want to double down on building an effective green industrial policy, others place greater priority on keeping down the costs of green technology and so believe that they need to continue to import some green technologies from outside Europe, at least for now. The EU can ill afford this diversity of approaches. To benefit from economies of scale, it needs to act as a bloc. To move the union beyond national approaches, the European Commission should spearhead a common strategic understanding of the challenge it faces, put in place a credible financial package for research and development for the next green technology wave, and prioritise a limited number of areas for innovation over the next decade.
Topic:
Industrial Policy, European Union, Green Technology, European Commission, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Europe

12. The EU’s Global Role: A Third Node of Power

Author:
Mikaela Gavas and W. Gyude Moore
Publication Date:
07-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
In recent years, a quest for economic security and strategic autonomy have come to define the European Union (EU)’s politics. The need to compete globally for the finite resources required for the green and digital transitions, and rivalries between the US and China for global dominance, are all driving this agenda. And while the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine highlighted countries’ global dependencies, deepening geopolitical tensions have brought national security considerations to the fore. At the same time, the rise of populist parties across Europe is fuelling calls for countries’ national interests to play the defining role in development cooperation. This presents a challenging environment for EU development cooperation. Caught up in this new paradigm, development cooperation is increasingly viewed as a lever of hard power and an instrument of influence which can be used to reinforce Europe’s strategic autonomy and economic security. With European interests central to EU development cooperation strategy, the climate of distrust between Europe and its partners is being heightened, given the not-so-distant memory of European vaccine “nationalism” during the COVID-19 pandemic, the different standards some Europeans apply with regards to fossil fuel exploration and the negative repercussions the Green Deal will have on African countries’ growth and development. However, shaping EU development policy in this fashion, with geostrategic interests at its forefront will be more detrimental than helpful for the EU in the medium to long-term, and carries the risk of fuelling conflicts of interest with partners. Geo-economic fragmentation and a trust deficit when it comes to governments and societal institutions are threatening our ability to address pressing global challenges. In Africa, this fracturing is evident in the plethora of Africa plus-one summits, for example, the first ever Korea-Africa summit. Instead of using multilateral vehicles to address development cooperation, this new environment has spawned a diversion of resources toward more bilateral initiatives, where the geopolitical returns are direct and attributable. In this piece, we propose a reset of the EU’s international relations narrative and “third way” for the EU to position itself as a global development player.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, European Union, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Europe

13. Informe sobre Sostenibilidad en España 2023: El papel del deporte en la transición ecológica

Author:
José Luis de la Cruz
Publication Date:
03-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:
El deporte puede considerarse como el vehículo de paz e integración social más poderoso de los que ha creado la humanidad. La vinculación del Deporte con el Desarrollo y la Paz está refrendado por NNUU en distintos momentos, especial y últimamente en el Plan de Acción de Kazán donde además de reconocer el papel instrumental del Deporte en las políticas de Desarrollo integral, se vincula el mismo en la Agenda 2030 y sus Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible, dado su papel en la potencial mejora de la calidad de vida de individuos y comunidades. El Octavo informe sobre Sostenibilidad en España elaborado por la Fundación Alternativas dedicado al papel del deporte en la transición ecológica ofrece datos y tendencias precisas y confiables para los actores relacionados con el conjunto del ecosistema deportivo con el objetivo de ayudar a desarrollar e implementar políticas sostenibles que permitan una transición ecológica de la industria deportiva en España. Políticas que al tiempo que garantizan el desarrollo socioeconómico, protejan el capital natural, contribuyan a la lucha contra la contaminación y aborden la adaptación al cambio climático. El Informe proporciona una evaluación de la sostenibilidad ambiental del deporte en España, así como recomendaciones y nuevas iniciativas y políticas relevantes en este ámbito.
Topic:
Sports, Sustainability, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

14. The State of the European Union 2024: Integration vs. Nationalism

Author:
Diego López Garrido
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:
In the new institutional cycle, the European Union is facing unprecedented challenges. This report studies and analyses some of the most outstanding aspects such as competitiveness and reindustrialisation in the light of competition from the USA and China; the transition to a decarbonised Europe; the need to defensively strengthen the Union and its foreign action; the migratory issue; the European social pillar or the rule of law. All this comes within a complex geopolitical context that helps to approach structural reforms to renewed institutions such as the European Parliament and the European Commission, where more conservative positions have thrived.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, European Union, Geopolitics, Industrialization, Economic Competition, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Europe

15. Leveraging EU industrial policy to reshape Greece’s productive model

Author:
Aggelos Tsakanikas and Petros Dimas
Publication Date:
04-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
Abstract:
This policy brief explores the evolution and goals of industrial policy in the EU, aiming to identify the ways in which these recent developments can provide significant opportunities for Greece. In this context, we outline some of the key features of the fragmented landscape of Greek industrial strategies and suggest future directions through which the country can leverage the current momentum of industrial policy in the EU to pursue the restructuring of its productive base along the lines of sustainability, the twin (green and digital) transition, and European strategic autonomy. Since the Great Recession of 2008, the EU has openly supported coordinated and complementary policies in an effort to tackle structural deficiencies that render its productive systems vulnerable. The pandemic crisis, the Ukrainian war, and the general call for action against climate change have highlighted the need for the further reconfiguration of industrial development across the world along the lines of inclusion, sustainability, and resilience. The EU New Industrial Strategy and its update in the aftermath of the pandemic provide blends of horizontal and vertical actions that target resilience in the Single Market, EU strategic autonomy, and the acceleration of the green and digital (twin) transitions. In response to the energy crisis, the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age has been promoted to ensure that sustainable competitiveness goals are on track with the recent geopolitical developments. Greece has already aligned its strategic planning to the EU’s industrial policy objectives through a dedicated National Industrial Strategy and other strategic documents that target innovation, the green transition and sustainable development, and digitalization across key industrial ecosystems and value chains. Key initiatives, such as industrial alliances and Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs), major reforms through dedicated Acts, and an unprecedented wealth of financing and regulatory instruments outline significant opportunities of transformative potential Greece’s productive model. The country must meet the challenges of implementing its ambitious action plans, while simultaneously monitoring, evaluating, and updating its strategic orientation against the backdrop of a volatile global market environment. Different strategies should be integrated into a unified system of policies that creates a clear connection between, and path dependence for, different objectives, diverse market reforms and policy interventions.
Topic:
Industrial Policy, European Union, Sustainability, Strategic Autonomy, Green Transition, and Digital Transition
Political Geography:
Europe and Greece

16. What can central banks do to take the Paris Agreement seriously?

Author:
Dirk Schoenmaker and Hesse McKechnie
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Bruegel
Abstract:
Since the Paris Agreement on climate change was signed in 2015, its 195 signatories have seen financial instability resulting from the climate transition increase by approximately one third, in the context of still-increasing global emissions. In the European Union, emissions have fallen but banks have not fully internalised the costs of transitioning to net-zero. Banks continue to finance the expansion of the fossil-fuel industry. At the systemic level, this is trading a pretence of financial stability now for a more disorderly transition scenario with greater financial instability later. Central banks are increasingly using microprudential supervisory tools to address climate-related financial risks. These tools include reviewing banks’ risk-management processes and giving warnings over shortcomings in banks’ risk models. This approach is helpful, but has so far failed to address the build-up of climate-transition-related imbalances in the financial system. This situation echoes the run-up to the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, when supervisors were busy reviewing the implementation of the latest Basel risk models by individual banks, while failing to see increased imbalances in the financial system caused by rising housing prices. This Policy Brief proposes that central banks should take a macro approach to managing system-wide risks stemming from the climate transition. It is necessary to treat climate as an endogenous, and in many jurisdictions legally-mandated, transition, rather than an exogenous risk. The policy aim for central banks, in their macroprudential supervision capacity, should be to minimise financial instability during that transition. This Policy Brief argues that, all other things being equal, the steadiest path towards net-zero offers the greatest amount of financial stability. Current proposals to impose systemic risk buffers for climaterelated concentration risk may fail to provide such a steady reduction. A guided transition is recommended for banks that have been reluctant to hive off profitable loans to high-emitting companies. A requirement for the financial sector to reduce financed emissions by four percentage points annually from 2025 to 2050 would deliver net-zero with the least amount of financial instability.
Topic:
Climate Change, Monetary Policy, European Central Bank, Paris Agreement, Banking, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Europe

17. The Future of EU Cohesion - Effects of the Twin Transition on Disparities across European Regions

Author:
Ambre Maucorps, Roman Römisch, Thomas Schwab, and Nina Vujanović
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW)
Abstract:
Closing the prosperity gap between regions has always been a key political aspiration of the European Union – and cohesion policy is the primary means to achieve that goal. Europe is currently undergoing a digital and green transition that is drastically changing the way its economy works. How well prepared are regions to capitalise on the twin transition? And what impact will it have on regional cohesion in Europe? Our study finds that greening and digitalising the economy will likely widen the gap between rich and poor regions in Europe.
Topic:
European Union, Economy, Regional Integration, Digitalization, Green Transition, and Regional Development
Political Geography:
Europe

18. Europe’s policies for a green transition: The European Commission’s geopolitical turn and its pitfalls

Author:
Marco Siddi
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)
Abstract:
The European Commission has published numerous policy documents concerning the European Green Deal and the energy transition since 2019. Several have an important foreign policy component. Following the Covid-19 crisis and especially Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, the discourse and policy objectives of these documents have taken a ‘geopolitical turn’, meaning that the EU’s security, interests and cooperation with Western allies have become more prominent than before. The REPowerEU plan, the new External Energy Strategy and the Green Deal Industrial Plan exemplify this shift by combining green and geopolitical objectives. The EU’s geopolitical turn in external energy politics involves several risks. Third countries could perceive some policies as ‘green protectionism’ or ‘green colonialism’. Domestically, some business actors dislike restrictions on imports of critical raw materials and green technology from abroad, whereas additional mining in the EU may not be compatible with biodiversity and environmental protection. At the same time, ‘offshoring’ mining outside the EU may transfer the ecological consequences to contexts with laxer regulation.
Topic:
Geopolitics, European Commission, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Europe

19. Roundtable report | Monitoring of the EU’s Green Policies: Perceptions and Narratives in the Czech and Slovak Information Space

Author:
Tatiana Mindeková
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:
On 17th of January 2023, the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy organised a closed roundtable discussion titled Monitoring of the EU’s Green Policies: Perceptions and Narratives in the Czech and Slovak Information Space. The discussion was held under the Chatham House Rule and attended by experts on the EU’s green policies and disinformation from think-tank communities and academia as well as by journalists who regularly comment on these topics. The event was moderated by Žiga Faktor, EUROPEUM’s Head of the Brussels Office. A short report from the discussion was prepared by our junior researcher and project manager Tatiana Mindeková.
Topic:
Climate Change, European Union, Energy, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Europe

20. How the EU and US can advance the green transition along with energy and resource security

Author:
Annika Hedberg and Olga Khakova
Publication Date:
08-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
European Policy Centre (EPC)
Abstract:
The benefits of enhanced transatlantic cooperation on the green agenda are immense — and waiting to be seized. At the Ministerial Meeting in Sweden in May, the EU and US reiterated their commitment for collaboration. While progress on the EU-US Trade & Technology Council’s (TTC) green agenda has been slow, it is now time to implement this commitment. This Policy Brief provides recommendations for the TTC for turning shared principles into joint action, with a focus on the following three areas: 1. Aligning climate and sustainability ambitions with security and geoeconomic goals; 2. Building on the power of technologies and developing common standards for the green transition and energy and resource security; 3. Ensuring access to resources needed for the green transition. In conclusion, the Paper calls for the TTC to assist the EU and the US in stepping up their joint efforts in addressing environmental challenges as well as enhancing climate action, resource and energy security through trade and technology solutions. It recognises the role the platform should play in opening the transatlantic market for products and services needed to accelerate the green transition.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Natural Resources, European Union, Energy, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Europe, North America, and United States of America