It is the principal objective of this course to provide insights into the shaping of the European Union’s (EU) political agenda on energy issues. This research focus is promising for several reasons. First of all, political attention to social problems is scarce and yet also consequential. Policy makers are constantly confronted with resource constraints, which prevent them from addressing the practically infinite number of social problems. Therefore, only a small share of the entirety of social problems is given political attention and end up on the political agenda. However, without making it to the political agenda, a social problem cannot be addressed, which indicates why this step is consequential for the subsequent policy-making process. As a result and as acknowledged by the literature, agenda shaping represents an important source of political power. This course will make an attempt to explain various forms of agenda-shaping efforts in a comprehensive manner by concentrating on energy policy.

1. Energy Policy Making in the EU
Building the Agenda
Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
Institute of Political Science
Heidelberg University

2. http://www.thehagueonline.com/userfiles/8206453462_4ab49c662f_z.jpg
http://www.kohlekraftwerke.de/bildergalerien/grosskraftwerk-mannheim.html

3. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
1. Introduction
1. Concepts
2. Agenda-shaping in the EU
3. The Field of Energy Policy
4. Research Questions
2. Development of EU Energy Policy
3. EU Politics
4. Energy Policy Making in the EU
5. Findings
6. Conclusion
Structure

4. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
Concepts
• Political Agenda refers to “the set of issues that are the subject of decision
making and debate within a given political system at any one time”
(Baumgartner 2001: 288)
− The number of social problems is practically infinite
− Policy-makers have resource constraints
− Political attention to social problems is scarce and yet consequential
(Green-Pedersen/Walgrave 2014: 6)
1. Introduction

5. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
Concepts
The political agenda can be differentiated into two types:
− Discussion agenda: all kinds of issues debated in society, usually
consisting of rather broad concepts and ideas
− Decision agenda: usually well defined issues that are up for serious
consideration by decision makers, some being encompassing and some
referring to technical details
• The decision agenda is motivated and influenced by the discussion agenda,
but also constrained by existing agendas
1. Introduction

6. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
1. Introduction
A B
D E
F G …
Universe of problems
A F
G
Problems that receive
attention
DISCUSSION AGENDA
A F
Problems addressed
by policy-makers
DECISION AGENDA
? ?

7. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
Concepts
• Agenda shaping as “bottleneck” for subsequent policy-making: Without
making it to the political agenda, a social problem cannot be addressed
• Three forms of Agenda shaping (Tallberg 2003: 5):
• Agenda setting: placing (new) issues on the political agenda (most easy to
observe)
• Agenda structuring: emphasising or de-emphasising issues already on the
agenda
• Agenda exclusion: active barring of issues from the political agenda
1. Introduction

8. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
Agenda shaping in the EU
• Selecting and placing issues on the agenda of the EU’s political system is
challenging because further to gaining attention, national governments need
to be convinced that an issue requires an EU-wide solution
• Successful agenda-shaping refers to a process that culminates in the
adoption of binding or non-binding rules by the EU legislative organs (i.e.
Regulations, Directives, Decisions, Recommendations, Opinions)
• Unsuccessful agenda-shaping refers to a process where no rules are
adopted by the EU legislative organs
1. Introduction

9. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
1. Introduction
Agenda-shaping in the EU
• Mediating role of epistemic communities, especially in uncertain decision-
making environments
• Absence of an immediate link between discussion agenda and decision
agenda, due to the absence of an European public
• Well documentation of both actions and non-actions, due to the need for
legitimation

10. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
The Field of Energy Policy
• Boundary-spanning policy field, including economic policy, environmental
policy, security policy, more generally international relations, and social
policy; therefore, the analysis provides many generalizable insights
• Large number of actors, coming from different sectors ( variety of
strategies)
• Dynamic field, subject to intense public and political debate
• Remarkable development in the EU, both internally and externally (e.g.
through extension to non-member states with actions like the Energy
Community)
1. Introduction

11. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
Research Questions
1. When are energy issues likely to be placed on the political agenda of the
European Union?
2. Which actors are influential in agenda shaping and what are their
strategies?
3. When does agenda shaping lead to legislative action?
1. Introduction

12. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
Security, Economy, Environment
• 1960s: Supply crises lead the European Community to adopt legislation
specifying the level of emergency oil stocks
• 1980s-1990s: Emergence of a comprehensive body of rules addressing
energy policy
− The Single European Act (1987) sets off the liberalization of the EU energy
market and the institutionalization of environmental policy
− Treaty of the European Union (1992)
− Adoption of three packages of Directives to liberalise the energy market in
1996, 2003 and 2007
2. Development of EU Energy Policy

13. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
• 2000s: Eastern enlargements (2004, 2007) increase energy security
concerns (dependence on Russia); greater willingness of Member States
to strengthen the Commission’s role in securing energy supply
• 2000s: Increased concerns over climate change provide the
environmental avenue with the most effective means for advancing
energy policy at EU level
• 2009: The Lisbon Treaty introduced for the first time an energy title to the
EU’s treaty framework
2. Development of EU Energy Policy

14. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
• The political system of the EU is characterized by:
− Horizontal and vertical power division
− Multiple institutional access points
• Agenda-shaping via the high-politics road (top-elites, decision-maker) or
the low-politics road (bureaucrats)
• The institutional setup of the EU is the reason why it is worth studying
agenda-shaping processes
3. EU Politics

15. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun 15
3. EU Politics
http://hum.port.ac.uk/europeanstudieshub/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/institutionrolesindecisionmaking_diagram-01.jpg

16. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
European Council
• Became formalized in 2009
• Heads of the Member States
• President of the European Council (Donald Tusk)
• President of the European Commission (Jean-Claude Juncker)
• High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy (Art. 22(2), 30(1) TEU) (Federica Mogherini)
 Agenda-setting power (high-politics route)
3. EU Politics

17. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
Council of the European Union (“the Council”)
• Governments of the Member States
• Council Presidency (rotating; currently: Luxembourg)
• Meets in ten different configurations (varying with the topic)
• Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER)
• Working Parties
 Agenda-setting and agenda-structuring power (low politics road)
3. EU Politics

18. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
European Parliament
• Only EU organ legitimised by direct elections
• President of the European Parliament: Martin Schulz
• Agenda-shaping power increased with extension of co-decision
powers, but this actor is mostly involved with decision making
rather than agenda shaping (Burns 2012: 139)
 Agenda-structuring power
3. EU Politics

19. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
European Court of Justice
• Interpretation and enforcement of EU law
• Actors such as interest groups address the Court of Justice
strategically in order to obtain a ruling that will force other EU
institutions to react
Agenda-setting power
3. EU Politics

20. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
European Commission
• 28 Commissioners, Directorates-General and Services
• Responsibility to develop medium-term strategies (Art. 17 TEU)
• Achieved more competencies in the course of time
• The Commission can both issue and withdraw the proposals on
which the Council depends to preside over Community legal acts
• Acts on the request of the Council and the European Parliament
 Agenda-setting and agenda-exclusion power
3. EU Politics

21. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
European Citizens‘ Initiative
• EU citizens are able to request the Commission‘s legislation in an
area through a petition carrying one million signatures
• Failed initiative: “Suspend the 2009 EU Climate & Energy Package
(excluding energy efficiency clauses) and further climate
regulations until a climate agreement is signed by major CO2
emitters - China, USA, and India”
 In principle, agenda-setting power
3. EU Politics

22. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
• The European Commission is the formal agenda-shaper among the EU
institutions, being the only institution that has both agenda-setting and
agenda-exclusion powers with regards to the EU‘s overall political agenda
• Its agenda-shaping activities are co-determined by institutional rules and the
preferences of the other players
• It acts in ‘competitive cooperation’ (Bocquillon/Dobbels 2014) with the
European Council
3. EU Politics – interim conclusion

23. Structure of the book
• Part I: Patterns of Agenda
Building and Legislative Activities
• Part II: The Commission as Policy
Entrepreneur
• Part III: Influential Member States
• Part IV: Framing and Reframing
For the table of contents, please
consult:
4. Energy Policy Making in the EU
http://www.springer.com/us/book/978144
7166443#aboutAuthors

24. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
Part I: Agenda-building and Legislative Activities
• Attention to energy-related issues was initially limited but has been growing
constantly ( webinar by Dr. Sophie Biesenbender)
• EU energy policy is influenced by both regulatory legacies in political
institutions and external events or factors
• The EU shows the ability to place energy issues on the political agenda of
third-party countries, depending also on the successful framing of its energy
policies
• The Goal to tackle climate change has helped a lot to bring new energy
issues on the political agenda
• Agenda-shaping is dominated by the European Commission and the
European Council
• Mentioning of energy-related issues in the European Council often leads to a
policy process
5. Findings

25. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
Part II: The Commission as Policy Entrepreneur
• Energy market liberalization entered the EU’s political agenda because the
Commission skilfully managed to frame energy matters as an integral part
of competition policy, opening a window of opportunity
• Not all agenda-shaping efforts by the Commission are successful, as
observed with regards to the use of renewable energy sources and the
development of a pan-European energy poverty policy
• With regard to renewables, the Commission failed to manage two
contradicting goals (low-carbon energy promotion vs. electricity sector
liberalization) in a supranational strategy, trying to influence national policy
decisions indirectly via state-aid guidelines instead
5. Findings

26. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
Part III: Influential Member States
• Individual EU Member States can act as agenda setters, depending on
their ability to build on national consensus:
− United Kingdom, with regard to the liberalization of the EU’s internal
energy market
− Germany, with regard to the promotion of renewable energy sources
5. Findings

27. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
Part IV: Framing and Reframing
• High impact of policy and issue images stresses the importance of framing
strategies in agenda-shaping processes
• This represents the main strategy of the European Commission
• Example: the securitization of the third gas directive by Eastern European
countries, transforming a competition issue into a foreign policy issue
• Importance of framing increases in environments of risk and high scientific
and technological uncertainty
• Example: The European Council framed hydraulic fracturing more as an
issue of energy security, while the European Parliament framed it as a
health and environment issue
5. Findings

28. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
• In the last few years, energy issues did benefit from elevated levels of political
attention, thus leading to an increased production of corresponding rules
• EU energy policy has become more diverse and encompassing, now also
including considerations about the affordability of energy
• When are energy issues likely to be placed on the political agenda of the
European Union? Framing and re-framing matters as well as interests in
other policy areas (e.g. climate change or security policy) and the strategies
adopted by the key players (most importantly the European Commission and
the European Council)
• Which actors are influential in agenda shaping and what are their strategies?
European Commission, European Council and the member states
• When does agenda shaping lead to legislative action? Framing and re-
framing matters and so does support by the member states
6. Conclusions

29. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
When agenda shaping is successful, new
energy projects are lauched…
http://gdb.rferl.org/BD74709B-4105-41E6-AB80-97377F9D6ADE_mw1024_s_n.jpg

30. • Baumgartner, F. R., 2001. Agendas: Political. In Smelser, N. J. / Baltes, P. B. (Eds.).
International encyclopedia of social and behavioral sciences: Political science (pp. 288–
290). New York: Elsevier.
• Bocquillon, P., / Dobbels, M., 2014. An elephant on the 13th floor of the Berlaymont?
European council and commission relations in legislative agenda setting. Journal of
European Public Policy, 21(1), 20–38.
• Burns, C., 2013. The European Parliament. In Jordan, A. / Adelle, C. (Eds.).
Environmental policy in the EU: Actors, institutions and processes (pp. 132–151).
London/New York: Routledge.
• Green-Pedersen, C. / Walgrave, S., 2014. Political agenda setting: An approach to
studying political systems. In Green-Pedersen, C. / Walgrave, S. (Eds.), Agenda
setting, policies, and political systems: A comparative approach (pp. 1–18). Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
• Tallberg, J., 2003. The agenda-shaping powers of the EU council presidency. Journal of
European public policy, 10(1), 1–19.
• Tosun, J. / Biesenbender, S. / Schulze, K.(Eds.), 2015. Energy Policy Making in the EU.
Building the Agenda. Heidelberg: Springer.
Institut für Politische Wissenschaft // Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun
Literature

31. Thank you for your attention…I now look
forward to the Q&A!!!