Mapping a Public Pathway for Europe’s Energy Transition

Amidst a severe energy and cost-of-living crisis, Mapping a Public Pathway for Europe’s Energy Transition delivers a compelling critique of Europe’s failing energy system. This comprehensive study exposes how, despite public commitments to reform, the EU’s continued reliance on a liberalized, profit-driven energy market is driving up prices and jeopardizing its own climate targets. At a time when the European Commission pledges competitiveness and a green industrial future, the data presented in this study tells a very different story.

Sean Sweeney moves beyond this bleak assessment and outlines a bold vision for a publicly owned, democratically controlled energy system. Covering aspects from production to distribution and public financing, the study presents actionable steps toward reshaping the energy sector into a model that prioritizes people over profit while addressing challenges of Europe’s energy transition.

The opinions expressed in this analysis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung (RLS), which assumes no liability for any potential inaccuracies. The following key lines of argument in the study warrant criticism.

Firstly, it asserts that “decentralized technologies”—referring to the expansion of renewable electricity—have been overestimated in Germany and, by extension, the EU due to alleged misjudgments and a perceived lack of planning. According to the study, Germany’s Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) serves as a “symbol of inadequate planning.” Secondly, based on the purported failure of the energy transition in the electricity sector, the study advocates for a “technological pluralism” that excludes no options, including nuclear power, hydrogen, and carbon capture technologies. This recommendation could potentially pave the way for reversing Germany’s nuclear phase-out.

The RLS does not share the assessments of these arguments and firmly supports Germany’s nuclear phase-out and opposes risky pseudo-solutions such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Furthermore, we maintain that the electricity transition triggered by the EEG, which includes concrete planning targets, has been fundamentally successful—despite criticism of certain political decisions and delays by successive German governments.

With these points of critique, RLS cannot fully endorse all aspects of Sean Sweeney’s analysis and conclusions. Nevertheless, it remains a compelling study, particularly in its examination of windfall profits in the electricity market during the energy crisis and its strong advocacy for the public ownership of electricity grids—an approach that aligns with long-standing RLS positions.

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