EPI in European Bioenergy Policy – a Multilevel Governance Perspective
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ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY INTEGRATION AND MULTI-LEVEL GOVERNANCE Co-ordinating and synthesising research on environmental policy integration and multi-level governance, 2006-2008 A Co-ordinated Action under the European Union's 6th Research Framework Programme CITIZENS-2004-4.2.2 - Governance for Sustainable Development DG Research EPIGOV Papers No. 40 EPI in European Bioenergy Policy – a Multilevel Governance Perspective Charlotta Söderberg (Department of Political Science, Umeå University, Sweden) Ecologic – Institute for International and European Environmental Policy Berlin, 2008 June 2008 EPIGOV Papers EPIGOV is a research project on the modes of governance employed at global, EU, national and regional/local levels to support the integration of environmental concerns into other policy areas. Relevant policy areas are, for example, transport, agricultural, and energy policy. Running over three years (2006-2009), EPIGOV brings together nineteen research institutions from ten European countries. EPIGOV aims to co-ordinate and synthesise existing research on environmental policy integration and multi-level governance and to generate new research questions and initiatives. To obtain feedback and disseminate results, EPIGOV will also involve policy- makers and non-state stakeholders. http://www.ecologic.de/projekte/epigov/ Citing this EPIGOV Paper: Söderberg, Charlotta (2008): ‘EPI in European Bioenergy Policy – a Multi-Level Governance Perspective’, EPIGOV Papers No. 40, Ecologic – Institute for International and European Environmental Policy: Berlin. Söderberg: EPI in European Bioenergy Policy Abstract Given the planned bioenergy expansion within the EU, this paper explores EPI in EU bioenergy policy with a multi-level governance perspective. The paper explores how EU bioenergy policy is framed; to what extent do environmental considerations underpin policy decisions and to what extent are other factors such as supply security or cost-efficiency emphasised? Secondly, given that implementation of bioenergy policy within the EU depends on a multilevel governance (MLG) system, the paper also explores the implications of EU bioenergy policies for Member State’s ability to promote EPI in bioenergy development. To this aim, the relation between European bioenergy policy and Swedish bioenergy policy is discussed. To what extent is the EU’s framing of bioenergy parallel to the Swedish framing of the issue? And, in what way does this frame compliance/frame clash shape the prospects to promote EPI in Swedish bioenergy policy? Furthermore, the paper analyses to what extent renewable energy goals are integrated into the EU:s common agricultural policy (CAP). In explicit, it explores the question; does CAP contain measures to increase the supply of biomass from agriculture? And, if bioenergy is addressed within CAP, in what way is the issue framed within the agricultural sector? Are there differences between the energy sector and agricultural sector in this sense? The paper draws some tentative conclusions on the development of EPI and policy coordination in EU bioenergy policy and on the implications of EU policy for EPI in Swedish bioenergy policy and provides thought for future research. 3 Söderberg: EPI in European Bioenergy Policy Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 5 1.1. Bioenergy – a multisectoral matter ...................................... 5 In focus: agrobiomass ....................................................................... 6 1.2. Outline of the paper .............................................................. 7 2. ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK: MATERIAL, KEY CONCEPTS AND METHOD ........................................................................................... 8 2.1. Environmental Policy Integration ........................................ 8 2.2. Tracing EPI in policy frames ................................................ 9 Bioenergy policy frames.................................................................. 10 2.3. Multi-level Governance ....................................................... 11 3. EPI IN EUROPEAN BIOENERGY POLICY 1995-2008 .................. 13 3.1. EPI in EU bioenergy policy: 1995-2008 .............................. 13 1995-2003 ....................................................................................... 13 2004-2008: towards an EU biomass policy and climate-energy integration ....................................................................................... 16 3.2. Policy coordination 1995-2008 ........................................... 18 Overarching coordinative measures ............................................... 19 Integrating bioenergy goals into CAP ............................................. 20 3.3. A MLG perspective on EPI implementation: implications for Swedish bioenergy policy 1995-2008 ........................... 23 Swedish bioenergy frames and policy prior to 1995 ....................... 24 Entering the EU – joining CAP ........................................................ 25 4. CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 28 4.1. EPI, policy coordination and multi-level implications ...... 28 4.2. A roadmap for future research ........................................... 30 Concluding remarks ........................................................................ 31 5. REFERENCES ................................................................................ 33 6. NOTES ............................................................................................ 37 4 Söderberg: EPI in European Bioenergy Policy 1. INTRODUCTION Renewable energy sources have become increasingly relevant in European energy policy during the last decade. By 2010, renewable energy sources are set to constitute 12 % of the total European energy consumption (Commission of the European Communities [EC] 1997). Achieving this goal requires a substantial rise in the use of biomass (EC, 2004), and the Commission have accordingly published both a Biomass Action Plan (EC, 2005b) and a European Union (EU) Strategy for Biofuels (EC, 2006). At the same time, environmental policy integration (EPI; that is, to integrate environmental considerations into sector policy) is a guiding principle for the EU (as stated in article 6 of the Amsterdam Treaty) and EPI achievement is the primary goal of the Cardiff process (EC, 1998). Given the planned bioenergy expansion within the EU, this paper aims to explore EPI in EU bioenergy policy with a multi-level governance perspective1. For that reason, the paper discusses descriptive and analytical questions to explore how EU bioenergy policy is framed; to what extent do environmental considerations underpin policy decisions and to what extent are other factors such as supply security or cost-efficiency emphasised? Secondly, given that implementation of bioenergy policy within the EU depends on a multilevel governance (MLG) system, the paper also explores the implications of EU bioenergy policies for Member State’s ability to promote EPI in bioenergy development. To this aim, the relation between European bioenergy policy and Swedish bioenergy policy is discussed. To what extent is the EU’s framing of bioenergy parallel to the Swedish framing of the issue? Has this changed over time, and – if so – how? And, in what way does this frame compliance/frame clash shape the prospects to promote EPI in Swedish bioenergy policy and practice? 1.1. Bioenergy – a multisectoral matter Bioenergy refers to all different types of energy (both electricity and liquid fuels for transport) generated from biofuels, which in turn are derived from biomass (and peat). Biomass is made from "material with biological origin that has not, or only to a modest extent, been chemically transformed" (Svebio, 2008) and includes by-products from forestry and agriculture plus municipal and industrial waste streams as well as dedicated energy crop cultivation (EC, 2005c; EEA, 2006b). Given that biomass thus is produced in different sectors, the potential for bioenergy in the EU “strongly depends on developments in various sectors” (EEA 5 Söderberg: EPI in European Bioenergy Policy 2006b, p.12) including the energy sector, the agricultural sector, the forest sector, and the waste sector. Thus, since any future bioenergy expansion in the EU depends on both how the demand side (energy) and the supply side (agriculture, forestry and waste) of biomass develops, the study of bioenergy policy as a case inherently involves a multi-sector perspective. The overarching framework for bioenergy policy is outlined in energy sector policies. Therefore, the main object of study in this paper is EPI in EU bioenergy policy as spelt out in energy sector policy documents. However, keeping Rydin (1999) in mind; we cannot simply talk ourselves into sustainability. Environmental discourse in the overarching bioenergy policy is undoubtedly of the utmost importance for EPI, but to generate sustainable results we need to talk the talk and walk the walk (and make sure that our chosen path is in fact leading towards an environmentally sustainable final destination). In other words, since the ultimate goal of EPI is the achievement of environmental sustainability (EEA 2004; Persson 2007), EPI needs to produce concrete results; policy statements must thus be followed by implementation through adequate policy measures. Or, as Persson (2007:44) argues: “the EPI-principle has both a procedural