European Union

Mind the gap DUH interim report cover

Mind the gap: Addressing the deficits in the EU’s green industrial agenda

Interim report
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union and Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe) have convened a group of over 20 experts from academia, industry, civil society and policy makers to discuss and identify several important policy gaps in the EU’s approach to renewable energy, which should be addressed to ensure that the EU’s new climate and industry agenda becomes as effective and globally equitable as it can be.
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Overview of EU electricity market design: implications of the renewable rollout

Factsheet
The European Commission has proposed a reform in the electricity market design. Both the technical implementation of the reform and the notion that marginal pricing is to blame are contested, and have significant implications with regard to investments in renewable energy sources (RES). This factsheet summarizes the key changes proposed in the reform, whilst focusing on their effects regarding the integration of RES into the European energy system and the flexibility potential required to achieve this integration.
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EU public finance landscape for cleantech

Factsheet
To meet the EU climate targets, policymakers need to support both the rapid deployment and manufacturing of cleantech, while also strengthening the EU’s research and innovation ecosystem. Next to this, they need to consider a range of questions. How will their policy response deliver quality jobs for citizens? How will it bolster the EU’s resilience vis-à-vis Russia or China? And finally, how will it support the EU’s economic competitiveness in an era when large economies have entered a cleantech race? This factsheet reviews existing EU funding initiatives to accomplish this endeavour.
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Diversion from urgent climate action

E-paper
In several countries in the EU, as well as in the Brussels corridors of the European Union institutions, a vehement debate is currently taking place regarding the demand for more nuclear power. Only five years ago, this attention hardly existed. This study looks at the sudden surge in attention for nuclear energy and tries to understand the role of different actors on the side of the nuclear lobby. It investigates the case of the Netherlands, which turned from a de facto nuclear phase-out country to one where expansion of nuclear energy is currently under preparation, as well as the European Union, where a large minority of Member States have brought nuclear back to the table in many climate-related legislative debates.
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Actually European!? 2023

Executive summary
In its coalition agreement, Germany’s current government committed itself to an “active EU policy” and promised to shape Europe in a "constructive" way. The past year however was dominated by crisis management in the wake of Russia's war of aggression. The EU, in its support of Ukraine or in the area of energy policy, proved to be capable of fast and common action, though its room for manoeuvre was often limited to the crises. Its defence capabilities and decarbonization of the economy still present enormous challenges. Against this political backdrop, the fifth edition of the long-term study Actually European!? analyzes how German citizens assess their country’s role in the EU and what they expect from their government.