The EU energy policy image dynamics in relation to the external crisis: evidence from 5th and 6th European Commission terms

Abstract

The master thesis explores the EU energy policy agenda change by analyzing legislative preparatory documents prepared by the European Commission in the period between September 2009 and November 2019. This period covers the two legislative cycles of the EU that changed in 2014 and coincided with the major external event – Crimea annexation followed by the warmongering in Eastern Ukraine. Multiple Streams Framework and Punctuated Equilibrium Theory was combined as a theoretical framework, according to which the agenda change is caused by the external event. However, the nature of agenda change depends on the policy problem interpretation by the main policy entrepreneur. Therefore, the paper uses the mixed methodology that combines computational text analysis and qualitative interpretation of the results in order to structurally explore the content of the EU energy policy agenda and its change in relation to the external crisis. So, the thesis concludes that the EU energy policy image has a multifaceted character consisting of five main dimensions: economic, environmental, security, foreign affairs, and procedural ones. The paper also contributes to the understanding of the policy agenda change: the shift happens in parallel with the change of problem definition given by the policy entrepreneur – the European Commission.