The report analyses to which extent key climate policies in the European Union (EU) influenced the development of the EU’s power sector. The paper assesses in particular the impact of the EU Emission Trading System (ETS), the Renewable Electricity Directive and the Renewable Energy Directive on various aspects of the power sector including electricity generation, electricity capacity, electricity prices, electricity trading, and emissions abatement in the EU and selected member states.

In a nutshell, the report concludes that the EU ETS has had thus far little impact on the development of the EU power sector, while the Renewables Directives appear to have had a larger impact. The report also finds that other factors (fuel prices, domestic resource availability, political and public acceptability, the general economic climate) play a much more decisive role on the development of the EU power system.

A more comprehensive summary as well as the full version of the report are available in the publication section of our website.