Chutes, ladders, snakes and surprises : policy durability and policy flexibility in EU energy and climate governance based on the governance regulation

Abstract

Whether the EU will live up to its leadership ambition in mitigating climate change to no little extent depends on whether the Governance Regulation will prove successful or whether it will add to the list of climate and energy policies which aimed high but performed low. This thesis analyses the legal arrangements of the Governance Regulation as embedded in the EU constitutional and administrative law framework in light of policy durability and policy flexibility, with the aim of assessing whether the Governance Regulation promises to build a long-lasting yet adaptable foundation for EU energy and climate governance that facilitates ratcheting up ambition and progress toward a ‘climate neutral’ Union.