Poland as a Policy Entrepreneur in European External Energy Policy

Towards Greater Energy Solidarity vis-à-vis Russia

Bibliographic Data

ID7785007
AuthorsMathias Roth (University of Cambridge, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume16
Issue3
Pages600-625
Publication date2011-07-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeopolitics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1465-0045 • E-ISSN: 1557-3028
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14650045.2011.520865
OpenAlexW2040619462
LanguageEN
Citations received22

This article draws on concepts from public policy analysis and the literature on EU member state influence to examine Poland's efforts to project its preferences onto European external energy policy. It argues that Poland's attempts to 'upload' its preferences are motivated by a perceived 'misfit' between European external energy policy and Warsaw's broader geopolitical priorities concerning Russia. The main aim of the article is to assess the impact of Poland's entrepreneurial efforts on the EU level and to review the relevance of several factors contributing to their success or failure. For this purpose, the article provides an in-depth, empirically rich case study focusing on Warsaw's call for 'energy solidarity' in the context of its 'Energy NATO' initiative in 2006 and the reform treaty negotiations in 2007. It concludes that Warsaw's 'uploading' efforts have faced very considerable constraints, but nevertheless succeeded at placing the notion of 'energy solidarity' onto the EU agenda. Notes 1. K. A. Longhurst and M. Zaborowski, The New Atlanticist: Poland's Foreign and Security Priorities (Malden, MA, and Oxford: Blackwell Publishing 2007). 2. This article employs a broad definition of EEEP, which also includes certain policies relating to the internal market, in particular measures to ensure supply security. 3. B. Buzan, O. Wæver and J. de Wilde, Security: A Framework for Analysis (Boulder, CO, and London: Lynne Rienner 1998). 4. T. A. Börzel and T. Risse, 'Conceptualizing the Domestic Impact of Europe', in K. Featherstone and C. M. Radaelli (eds.), The Politics of Europeanization (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2003). 5. T. A. Börzel, Coping with Accession to the European Union: New Modes of Environmental Governance (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 2009); R. 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