A qualitative look at the coherence between EU energy security and climate change policies

Energy security has become a key priority in EU policy but climate change mitigation commitments live on in parallel. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the extent to which EU climate change mitigation policies and energy security policies are coherent – a relationship that is far from clear cut since both areas are both complex and wide ranging. We use a simple policy-analytical framework for a rapid assessment, by which the main components of the two policy domains are juxtaposed in a screening matrix. The availability, accessibility and affordability policies of energy security are thus set against emissions reductions, renewable energy expansions and energy efficiency policies of climate change mitigation. Our assessment shows that the two policy fields are coherent in general but a number of policy interactions require attention since coherence is dependent on ancillary policy measures. The future outlook of how the securitisation of EU energy policy will affect climate change mitigation depends on how the future security agenda will be framed. A move to a nationally fragmented security frame will lead to greater policy conflicts than a coordinated EU security frame.