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Introduction: The Working of the Channels of Interaction Between the EU and the EU11 Member States Read chapter Read first chapter

2021 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

10. Climate Change and EU Membership: The Journey of Central and Eastern Europe Towards a Carbon-Free World

Author : István P. Székely

Published in: Does EU Membership Facilitate Convergence? The Experience of the EU's Eastern Enlargement - Volume II

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

This chapter looks into the impact of EU membership on the carbon intensity of EU11 economies since joining the EU. EU membership boosted foreign trade and FDI, leading to a rapid re-industrialization of EU11 and making them the fastest converging group of upper-middle-income countries in the world. Nevertheless, EU11 economies maintained their previously established trend decline in carbon intensity. The convergence path of EU11 was unique among converging upper-middle-income countries in this regard. In other parts of the world, convergence was coupled with increasing carbon intensity.
The role of EU membership in bringing about this unique trend is well identifiable. On the legal-institutional side, the adoption of the acquis and EU institutions, the environmental norms and the shared decision to reduce CO2 emission (to achieve the EU goals for 2020) required also EU11 countries to contribute. The EU not only set requirements, it also provided significant financial support through several channels to EU11 to help achieve these targets and to mitigate the social consequences of the measures involved.

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previous chapter Corruption, Institutions and Convergence
next chapter The Impact of the EU on National Fiscal Governance Systems
Footnotes
1
For an analysis of the impact of transition in the countries that formerly were Soviet Republics from a de-modernization perspective, see York (2008). He also analyses the impact of the size of the army on CO2 emission, albeit not that of military industry.
 
2
When we talk about EU and EU11 countries regarding a period in the past, we mean the countries that today are members of the EU, or the countries that joined the EU since 2004 from the region. Comparable GDP data (PPP) are only available since 1990, so we use per capita numbers to describe trends prior to economic transition, as they are available for a longer period starting in 1960.
 
3
As Fig. 10.11 shows, high carbon intensity of the economy in Estonia is explained by both, high energy intensity and high carbon intensity of energy use. The latter is due to heavy reliance on domestic oil shale, while the former is attributable to the relatively high energy use in transportation and by households.
 
4
Ürge-Vorsatz et al. (2006) also mention some of the positive legacies of Soviet-type central planning, such as the high share of public transport in total transport, the wide prevalence of district heating and cogeneration (the utilization of the waste heat of power or industrial plants as district heating) and the relatively large share of multi-family houses in urban areas. However, some of these positive legacies were combined with negative ones, such as highly polluting buses or very low standards of energy efficiency for buildings, thus many of these positive legacies were more potential than real. After EU accession, some of the schemes funded by structural funds were targeted precisely on these weak elements of the system, allowing EU11 countries to turn this part of their legacy into a truly positive one. On the other hand, a rapid increase in car ownership eroded some of the initial advantages in the area of transportation.
 
5
This is part of the legacy of Soviet-type central planning. Ürge-Vorsatz et al. (2006) refer to this area as the “Black Triangle”, comprising of regions of heavy industry and coal mining in Poland, (then) Czechoslovakia and (then) East Germany. The phasing out of coal-fired energy plants progressed at different speeds in the countries concerned. Moreover, in Poland, the rapid development of large and densely populated metropolitan areas also added to the pressure on air (and CO2) pollution.
 
Literature
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Chandler, W. (2018). Energy and Environment in the Transition Economies. Between Cold War and Global Warming. New York: Routledge. (first published by Westview Press in 2000).CrossRef
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Székely, I. P., & Kuenzel, R. (2020). Convergence of the EU Member States in Central-Eastern and South Eastern Europe to the Frontier: A Framework for Convergence Inside a Close Regional Cooperation. In M. Landesmann & I. P. Székely (Eds.), Does EU Membership Facilitate Convergence? The Experience of the EU’s Eastern Enlargement. forthcoming: Palgrave Macmillan.
Székely, I. P., & Ward-Warmedinger, M. (2018). Reform Reversals: Areas, Circumstances and Motivations. Comparative Economic Studies, 60(4), 559–582.CrossRef
Ürge-Vorsatz, D., Miladinova, G., & Paizs, L. (2006). Energy in Transition: From the Iron Curtain to the European Union. Energy Policy, 34(2006), 2279–2297.CrossRef
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Metadata
Title
Climate Change and EU Membership: The Journey of Central and Eastern Europe Towards a Carbon-Free World
Author
István P. Székely
Copyright Year
2021
Book
Does EU Membership Facilitate Convergence? The Experience of the EU's Eastern Enlargement - Volume II

Print ISBN: 978-3-030-57701-8

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-57702-5

Copyright Year: 2021

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57702-5_10