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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Trends in EU Energy Policy 1995–2007

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Today, climate change and a significant increase in energy consumption are considered to be the two greatest global challenges facing the energy world (e.g., Hasselmann et al. 2003: 1923; IPCC 2007; Kara 2007: 5; Karl and Trenberth 2003: 1719). In addition to the scientific community having a common understanding about these two issues relating to each other, the political decision makers also need to acknowledge it and start building a framework around it – with the same longterm targets. On the EU-level, climate change concerns were already manifested in the White Paper on Energy Policy for the European Union in 1995. The development of the EU’s common energy policy is also the result of growing global concerns regarding a wide range of related political and economic issues (Kaivo-oja and Luukkanen 2004: 1511). The purpose here is to examine the development of EU energy policies during the period between 1995 and 2007, through an inductive content analysis of selected preparatory acts.