Social Europe

  • EU Forward Project
  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

Europe’s energy transition must steer towards social justice

Pierre Jean Coulon, Marie Delair and Kristian Krieger 17th January 2019

Environmentalists and anti-poverty campaigners haven’t always seen themselves on the same side of Europe’s energy transition. Dramatic reduction in the cost of renewables is making a new alignment feasible.

Europe's energy transition

Pierre Jean Coulon

Urgency and ambition have come to dominate the energy and climate debate. In October 2018, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its challenging report on the impact of a 1.5C temperature rise on pre-industrial levels. And, ahead of the COP24 global climate negotiations which concluded in Poland in December, the European Commission published a new long-term strategy, setting the ambition that the EU become carbon-neutral by 2050.

The fundamental transformation of Europe’s economies towards carbon neutrality does not however present only a vast technological challenge. The popular demonstrations by the gilets jaunes in France against increasing fuel taxes testified to a feeling of fiscal unfairness surrounding the energy transition. Local resistance against offshore wind is another indication of the political difficulty of turning Europe’s economies upside-down within an extremely tight timeframe. Critically, as with any major transformation, benefits and risks are unevenly distributed regionally and socially across Europe. By focusing on market integration, climate change and energy security, the political system struggles to pay sufficient attention to the social dimension of the energy transition.

Europe's energy transition

Marie Delair

A case in point is energy poverty, where individuals are not able to afford services they need—heat, light, air-conditioning and so on—in their homes. It is estimated that about 10 per cent of the EU population might be affected. Progress within EU policy-making has been slow. Even though energy poverty became a legally recognised concept in 2009 with the Third Energy Package, the legislation did not translate into substantive, binding obligations on member states or concrete actions addressing the challenge. Only a handful of member states have introduced even legal definitions of energy poverty into their legislation.

Where governments lag behind, civil society emerges as a main advocate, raising awareness at European level. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), representing organised civil society, issued an opinion in 2001 on climate change and emissions trading, highlighting the risk of fuel poverty. And, in an own-initiative opinion of 2013, it made a number of recommendations, from a comprehensive EU Energy Solidarity Fund to an EU Energy Poverty Observatory. In 2016, the commission released a Clean Energy Package, which includes many positive ideas on energy poverty, including the establishment of the observatory and specific energy-efficiency measures. But many issues remain unresolved—for instance, what role social as opposed to energy policies should play in alleviating energy poverty.

Cheaper renewables and bills

Europe'e energy transition

Kristian Krieger

Historically, some commentators have expressed concerns about the costs of the transition to low-carbon energy systems, affecting—via electricity and gas bills—vulnerable consumers. As the costs of renewables have sharply declined over the past decade and are now seen as competitive with fossil fuel, the perspective should however be reversed and the energy transition seen as an opportunity to alleviate poverty. Indeed, it can be argued that economically weak and rural regions and vulnerable households can reap significant benefits from the transformation of Europe’s energy systems.

Decentralised systems with renewables bring hope for poverty alleviation through cheaper, self-produced energy, offering revenue through own generation. In such a vision, citizens, local civil-society organisations and local utilities become central actors in Europe’s energy future. Local and regional governments can play a crucial role in ensuring that this involvement is inclusive: with public financing, simplified administrative procedures, awareness campaigns and training, they can enable energy communities and energy-poor households to participate in energy markets. It is important to make an economic case for locally-owned, smaller-scale renewables installations which generate social benefits for local people—especially given that the commission expects, for instance, that the share of larger-scale, offshore wind in the renewables mix increases in future.

Nuclear energy is foreseen as providing low-carbon energy in the EU 2050 strategy. But even here, where debates normally pit environmentalists concerned about safety against operators, the distinctive regional economic and social dimension is key. As with any other large industrial installation, nuclear power plants have a limited lifespan. With about 130 reactors in operation in Europe, Europe faces future challenges of decommissioning. Nuclear power stations, often located away from densely populated regions, dominate regional economies and shape local labour markets. Once the decommissioning process is launched, regional economies are likely to be adversely affected.

Lithuania’s Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is a case-study of the social consequences of closing power plants. The Ignalina NPP brought local economic activity to a remote region near the Belarusian border. The nearby town of Visaginas has a population of more than 30,000 citizens, 80 per cent of whom depend economically on Ignalina’s activities. Even if new jobs were generated by decommissioning, they would be too few to replace those lost. It is thus of key importance that decommissioning activities take into account the implications for the local economy.

The EU has recently launched several initiatives which show an increasing recognition of the social dimension of the Energy Union, from the coal regions in transition platform to the energy poverty observatory. Reflecting the scale and scope of the transition, however, the social challenges are ubiquitous and multi-faceted. Tackling them will be crucial as the energy transition becomes ever more ambitious and urgent.

Ignoring social concerns and failing to take into account grievances would exacerbate the feeling of being unheard by distant policy-makers which has fuelled the populist challenges to national and EU political systems. In contrast, an energy transition which offered help and opportunities to take ownership in energy supply and assisted those left behind could reconnect citizens with their communities and shape the transformation.

Pierre Jean Coulon, Marie Delair and Kristian Krieger

Pierre Jean Coulon is president of the European Economic and Social Committee's TEN section: Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and Information Society. He has had a long and distinguished career in the French trade union movement (CFTC), the United Nations' Commission for Sustainable Development and the international NGO Droit à l'Energie SOS Futur. Marie Delair is a former fellow at the Freie Universitat Berlin. She assists the EESC secretariat on transport and energy issues. Kristian Krieger is responsible for energy policy in the secretariat of the TEN Section. He holds a PhD in environmental governance from King's College London and has conducted research on the ethical dimension of the energy transition.

Harvard University Press Advertisement

Social Europe Ad - Promoting European social policies

We need your help.

Support Social Europe for less than €5 per month and help keep our content freely accessible to everyone. Your support empowers independent publishing and drives the conversations that matter. Thank you very much!

Social Europe Membership

Click here to become a member

Most Recent Articles

u421983467f bb39 37d5862ca0d5 0 Ending Britain’s “Brief Encounter” with BrexitStefan Stern
u421983485 2 The Future of American Soft PowerJoseph S. Nye
u4219834676d582029 038f 486a 8c2b fe32db91c9b0 2 Trump Can’t Kill the Boom: Why the US Economy Will Roar Despite HimNouriel Roubini
u42198346fb0de2b847 0 How the Billionaire Boom Is Fueling Inequality—and Threatening DemocracyFernanda Balata and Sebastian Mang
u421983441e313714135 0 Why Europe Needs Its Own AI InfrastructureDiane Coyle

Most Popular Articles

startupsgovernment e1744799195663 Governments Are Not StartupsMariana Mazzucato
u421986cbef 2549 4e0c b6c4 b5bb01362b52 0 American SuicideJoschka Fischer
u42198346769d6584 1580 41fe 8c7d 3b9398aa5ec5 1 Why Trump Keeps Winning: The Truth No One AdmitsBo Rothstein
u421983467 a350a084 b098 4970 9834 739dc11b73a5 1 America Is About to Become the Next BrexitJ Bradford DeLong
u4219834676ba1b3a2 b4e1 4c79 960b 6770c60533fa 1 The End of the ‘West’ and Europe’s FutureGuillaume Duval
u421983462e c2ec 4dd2 90a4 b9cfb6856465 1 The Transatlantic Alliance Is Dying—What Comes Next for Europe?Frank Hoffer
u421983467 2a24 4c75 9482 03c99ea44770 3 Trump’s Trade War Tears North America Apart – Could Canada and Mexico Turn to Europe?Malcolm Fairbrother
u4219834676e2a479 85e9 435a bf3f 59c90bfe6225 3 Why Good Business Leaders Tune Out the Trump Noise and Stay FocusedStefan Stern
u42198346 4ba7 b898 27a9d72779f7 1 Confronting the Pandemic’s Toxic Political LegacyJan-Werner Müller
u4219834676574c9 df78 4d38 939b 929d7aea0c20 2 The End of Progess? The Dire Consequences of Trump’s ReturnJoseph Stiglitz

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

KU Leuven advertisement

The Politics of Unpaid Work

This new book published by Oxford University Press presents the findings of the multiannual ERC research project “Researching Precariousness Across the Paid/Unpaid Work Continuum”,
led by Valeria Pulignano (KU Leuven), which are very important for the prospects of a more equal Europe.

Unpaid labour is no longer limited to the home or volunteer work. It infiltrates paid jobs, eroding rights and deepening inequality. From freelancers’ extra hours to care workers’ unpaid duties, it sustains precarity and fuels inequity. This book exposes the hidden forces behind unpaid labour and calls for systemic change to confront this pressing issue.

DOWNLOAD HERE FOR FREE

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

What kind of impact is artificial intelligence (AI) having, or likely to have, on the way we work and the conditions we work under? Discover the latest issue of HesaMag, the ETUI’s health and safety magazine, which considers this question from many angles.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
How are minimum wage levels changing in Europe?

In a new Eurofound Talks podcast episode, host Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound expert Carlos Vacas Soriano about recent changes to minimum wages in Europe and their implications.

Listeners can delve into the intricacies of Europe's minimum wage dynamics and the driving factors behind these shifts. The conversation also highlights the broader effects of minimum wage changes on income inequality and gender equality.

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

LISTEN NOW

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!


Since President Trump’s inauguration, the US – hitherto the cornerstone of Western security – is destabilising the world order it helped to build. The US security umbrella is apparently closing on Europe, Ukraine finds itself less and less protected, and the traditional defender of free trade is now shutting the door to foreign goods, sending stock markets on a rollercoaster. How will the European Union respond to this dramatic landscape change? .


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss European defence strategies, assess how the US president's recent announcements will impact international trade and explore the risks  and opportunities that algorithms pose for workers.


READ THE MAGAZINE

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641