EU Agenda-Setting and European Energy Policy: the "EU nuclear package"

Due to the EURATOM Treaty nuclear energy has been a central element of the European Communities. However during the 1990s the internal energy market programme was the key issue of EU energy policy besides an increasing interest in renewable energy and energy efficiency. in 2003 the European Commission put nuclear energy back on the agenda with the publication of a nuclear package. Its purpose was to keep the nuclear option open which was considered as necessary to guarantee the EU's security of supply and to achieve EU climate targets. While a majority of member states with France and Austria supported the nuclear package, it was rejected by a blocking minority including Finland and Germany. This led to a lengthy and intense policy process between the Commission and the Council. This article provides an analysis of this policy process. Using an agenda-setting perspective it is argued that the Commission as formal agenda-setter did not sufficiently act as a policy entrepreneur. By contrast, opponents to the nuclear package successfully used problem definitions and institutional venues to pursue their policy objectives. The article contributes to a better understanding of EU energy policy making and the role of policy entrepreneurs.