The Green Parties And EU’s Energy Integration

Green party is a significant and stable political force in the European politics nowadays.Green parties have been closely interacting with the process of European integration since they were initially created in the 1970 s.The energy issue is a major concern for the Green parties and plays an important role in the process of European integration.Therefore,the energy issue is a relatively ideal perspective for exploring the specific impacts of the Green parties on the European integration.This study aims to figure out the functions of the Greens in the EU’s energy integration,and to analyze how the Green parties influence the energy-related decision-makings in the EU as well as its member states.Green parties derived from the new social movements in the 1970 s and 1980 s in the western countries.In the early stages,the Greens mainly focused on the ecological and environmental issues.Its basic political values include ecological sustainability,grassroots democracy,social justice and non-violence.The Greens’ pattern of action used to be radical and anti-systemic.During the past decades,the Greens has gradually transformed from a non-institutional protest group exclusively for the environmental issue to an institutionalized political party dealing with many different issues.The organization of the Greens has been transnational in Europe since the beginning.The Greens has transformed from an opponent of Europeanism to a supporter of the European integration,but the Greens’ attitudes toward the European integration still vary to a certain extent in different countries.The trend towards sustainable development in the EU’s energy sector first appeared in the 1970 s,when Green parties were founded in some of the European countries.Since then,the EU’s energy policy-making has been embracing more and more ecological principles.The Greens’ energy policy is a reflection of its ecological political theory.Whether at the level of member states or the EU,the Greens’ energy policy includes two core demands: energy transition and the abolition of nuclear energy.The way the Greens shape the EU energy policies can be roughly divided into two types: political participation in the parliament and lobbying activities outside the parliament.Political participation in the parliament is more important for the Green parties.In the EU,the Greens seek to influence the energy policy-making by means of the procedural activities within the EU institutions.The available channels include the European Parliament’s question collection system,urgency resolutions,plenary speeches,standing parliamentary committees and special committees of inquiry.In the member states,the national parliament is the core platform for the Green parties’ political activities.If the Greens manage to enter the national government to form a cabinet,their influence will be further enhanced.Case studies show that the standing parliamentary committees are the most important tools of agenda-setting for the Greens in the EP.The Greens influences the EU energy decision-making by actively seeking the status of ‘rapporteur’ in the standing parliamentary committees.The main point of this thesis is that as the Green parties’ own strength rises,they become more capable of influencing the EU’s energy integration,especially in the EU and in the member states with strong Green parties such as Germany.As an emerging political party,the Greens has been continuously improving its own construction for decades,actively cooperating with traditional mainstream parties,and seizing important opportunities to expand its influence.At the EU level,the Greens actively participate in the EP elections and take advantage of the decision-making mechanism of the EP to exert influence on energy policy-makings;at the member state level,joining the governing coalition is crucial for the Greens to shape the energy policies.In addition,the Greens’ control of lobbying groups has also contributed to its increasing influence on EU energy decisions.However,the influence of the Green parties on the EU’s energy integration also has limitations.The impacts of the Greens on the EU’s energy policy-makings are uneven in different subdivisions and countries.The Greens are highly dependent on the cooperation with other political parties.With the “greening” of the traditional mainstream parties to a certain extent,the influence of the Greens on EU energy policies is at risk of being diluted.In general,the Greens is a political force with great potential in the EU.The Greens are very likely to function as the crucial governing partners in some of the EU member states for a long time to come.If the Greens want to keep deepening their influence on the energy integration and even on the overall process of European integration in the future,it is necessary to strive for more opportunities for governance in EU countries.