The liberalisation of the internal energy market: Is the eu dancing at a british tempo?

Abstract

This chapter aims to highlight relevant turning points with the convergence or divergence of the United Kingdom’s and the EU’s policy discourse on the liberalisation of an integrated energy market have affected the formation of a European energy policy agenda. It adopts Tallberg’s (2003) three-tiered agendabuilding model to analyse three phases in which the United Kingdom has been a key player in shaping the internal energy market agenda: the 1970s, with an agenda exclusion strategy pursued as long EU interests did not match British preferences on market liberalisation; the 1980s-1990s, with an explicit uploading of Britain-to-EU agenda-setting strategy promoting energy market liberalisation according to successful domestic experiences; the 2000s, with an agenda-structuring approach that attempted to assert Britain’s leadership in climate-change action. The chapter ultimately argues that the goals, regulatory instruments and market-driven vision uploaded from the United Kingdom to the EU is the grounds for the current paradigm for energy policy making in the EU. The transformation towards sustainability goals and the ability of one actor to alter policy balances through narrative and discourse set out a valuable precedent for more cross-policy research in EU agendasetting studies.