Unlocking Fossil Fuel Dependency in the European Union: Studying the Failures of Removing Fossil Fuel Subsidies in the European Union and Possible Pathways Forward.

Abstract: Despite the well-known threat that the use of fossil fuels poses to the climate many countries continue to provide large subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. The EU has declared that its member states should phase-out fossil fuel subsidies, but progress has been lacking and subsidies for fossil fuels in the EU remain large. This paper aims to understand which factors explain the persistence of subsidies as well as the factors which can reduce these. In order to understand this puzzle a co-variational research design is applied. The main independent variable political will is compared together with three control variables across six member states. The member state’s national energy and climate plans are analysed using a qualitative content analysis to help determine the degree of political will reflected in working to remove fossil fuel subsidies. The main findings from this paper indicate that having at least a moderate political will is a necessary factor if a country is to reduce its fossil fuel subsidies. A large renewable energy sector works as an enabling factor making this reduction larger. Therefore, a combination of these two factors is necessary if countries are to reach the goal of phasing out fossil fuel subsidies.