European regulatory policy, EU regulatory policy models, EU energy policy, EU renewable energy policy
Abstract
The aim of this article is to deepen knowledge on the topics of the European Union (EU) regulatory policy of the renewable energy sector as well as the theoretical context and the practical implementation of the renewable energy policy. In order to justify the implementation of the EU regulatory policy, the Directive “On The Promotion Of The Use Of Energy From Renewable Sources”2009/28/EC was analyzed in this article as one of the examples of the EU regulatory policy. A special attention in the analysis of the Directive was given for the legal obligations for the Member States as well the means and ways to implement these obligations. The legal obligations and the discretion, i.e., the action of freedom, of the Member States were analyzed in the article, as these variables are the main determinants of a particular policy model which should be chosen to apply in the form of a piece of legislation. The main goal of the article is to analyze the mechanisms of the EU regulatory policy and its basic principles as well as its practical implementation. In order to implement this goal, the following tasks were raised: to analyze the theoretical context of the EU regulatory policy; to review the development of the EU energy regulatory policy; to highlight the most important theoretical/conceptual models of the EU regulatory policy; to justify and to substantiate the practical use of the EU regulatory policy models, by analyzing the Directive 2009/28/EC “On The Promotion Of The Use Of Energy From Renewable Sources”; to analyze the case of Lithuania. The analysis of the Memer States’ legal obligations as well as the the degree of their discretion (freedom of action), showed that the Directive have a high degree of obligation and even provides certain sanctions for failure to comply with these obligations, hovewer it gives broad opportunities for the freedom of action to the Member States to implement their obligations under the Directive. These variables imply that the Directive 2009/28/EC is based on the so-called new instruments regulatory policy model. As practice shows, Lithuanian renewable energy development lacks the state support as renewable energy development goals are declarative and do not reflect any real efforts of the government. This situation demonstrates that the EU regulation within the energy framework is not sufficient for Lithuania.
