CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Wachter, Anne Maria |
|---|---|
| Title | European Natural Gas Market Integration: A Causal Analysis of Drivers and Patterns |
| Summary | The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the process of European natural gas market in-tegration in the time period from 2007 to 2013 in order to identify changes in influence on the Commission from both Member State governments and non-state actors. In recent years, en-ergy policy in the European Union (EU) has shifted from an entirely national matter to supra-national policy initiative. The liberalization of European natural gas markets is affecting the gas sector in two ways. First, the evolving regulatory framework on natural gas is creating new dynamics of competition between national energy groups, causing the already politically active industry to bulk up its presence in supranational policy-making. Alongside this, new modes of energy governance are evolving on both the European and the national level, leading to the formation of new power relations between the European Commission (hereafter: Commission), Member State governments, and non-state actors. The study finds that, compared to legislation from the early 2000s, the Commission has gained stronger, independent will towards Member State governments to advance on EU gas market integration. Further, non-state agents have become increasingly active in the polit-ical sphere, and developed close working relationships with different Directorate-Generals (DG). Through a comparative analysis using both a supranational ‘policy networks’ and intergovernmentalist approach, this paper aims to make a valuable contribution to the scholarly debate on European integration. |
| Supervisor | Goldthau, Andreas |
| Department | Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/wachter_anne.pdf |
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