Building the EU’s energy policy agenda: An introduction

Abstract

When are energy issues likely to be placed on the political agenda of the European Union? Which actors are influential in agenda shaping and what are their strategies? When does agenda shaping lead to legislative action? These are the research questions that guide the contributions to this edited volume. This introductory chapter gives an overview of the key concepts and research themes, and explains why the field of energy policy is useful for gaining an understanding of agenda shaping in the European Union. Furthermore, it outlines the structure of the book and summarises the contents of the individual chapters.