Research Papers

Germany and Spain have become over the last decades top promoters and producers of energy coming from renewable sources. In both cases, this has been possible thanks to special regimes for the generation sector in favour of these sources of energy. The problem, at least in the case of Spain, is that it hasn’t been possible to maintain the stability of the system, and changes have been approved quite often in a short period of time. In the current situation of economic crisis, a new regulation affecting the energy sector has been approved, removing the subsidies and primes for most of the renewable energies. In Germany there have also been quite fundamental changes in the energy sector; most importantly, regarding nuclear power. Germany first approved the extension of life for existing nuclear power stations, moving to the opposite direction in the aftermath of the nuclear disaster in Japan. Since then the German government is under a particular pressure to implement the transition of energy systems while keeping up Germany’s competitiveness. However, alternative energy measures are increasingly confronted with public resistance. In Spain the discourse is also changing after the last election. This is causing uncertainty on energy companies, who see how sector regulation changes too often to make plans for the long term, putting investments in risk and so, the achievement of a low carbon economy and a sustainable future. In this paper we will analyze the change on discourses affecting energy policy at country and EU level, and the role of the different actors involved.