The Paris Agreement’s influence on the EU’s policy . The amendment to the Energy Efficiency Directive as a case

Abstract

As a universal climate agreement, the Paris Agreement plays an important role in the climate and environmental politics since the 2015 Climate Conference. The EU was one of the parties of Paris which also ratified the Paris Agreement. This thesis examines whether the Agreement had any influence on the European Union’s climate and energy policy. The amendment to the Energy Efficiency Directive was chosen as a case. The legislative process was marked by significant disagreements within and between the institutions of the European Union and an unexperienced presidency in the European Council. The thesis finds that the influence of the Paris Agreement on the final outcome was limited, in the sense that it was not sufficient to break an existing path dependency. The provisions in the Directive were merely adjusted. However, some actors viewed the Agreement as a critical juncture and adjusted their positions. The Directive can therefore be understood as a case of incremental change. Additionally, the influence of entrepreneurs can be traced in this case. Their ability to form alliances and use the policy process within the European Union enabled especially environmental groups to push the Directive in a more ambitious direction.