Europeanization Processes of the EU Energy Policy in Visegrad Countries in the Years 2005–2018

Krzysztof Wach, Agnieszka Głodowska, Marek Maciejewski and Marek Sieja
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Krzysztof Wach: Department of International Trade, Cracow University of Economics, ul. Rakowicka 27, 31-510 Kraków, Poland
Agnieszka Głodowska: Department of International Trade, Cracow University of Economics, ul. Rakowicka 27, 31-510 Kraków, Poland
Marek Maciejewski: Department of International Trade, Cracow University of Economics, ul. Rakowicka 27, 31-510 Kraków, Poland
Marek Sieja: Department of Automatics and Informatics, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, ul. Warszawska 24, 31-155 Kraków, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-23

Abstract: Energy issues are sensitive for the four Visegrad countries as European Union (EU) member states; thus, this area’s convergence might be problematic for these countries. There is a clear research gap concerning the processes of Europeanization of the energy policy in the Visegrad countries. This article aims to identify and evaluate the progress of four Visegrad countries (V4) in implementing the EU energy goals in the context of the Europeanization. The article uses three main methods: Hellwig’s method, Kendall’s rank concordance coefficient, and k-means clustering. These calculations will allow one to study the Europeanization processes, which means checking the gamma convergence. For calculations, we use the available statistical data from Eurostat for the years 2005–2018. Poland and other Central European countries, including Czechia, and Hungary, largely depend on coal for their energy needs. The empirical results have shown that there have been no significant changes in the classification of EU countries in terms of their fulfillment of the EU climate and energy targets in the analyzed period. This is the case in all EU member states, including the Visegrad Group countries, but except for Poland. This means that the level of Europeanization of the energy policy and its effectiveness is similar in all member states except for Poland, which is becoming a kind of the exception. Throughout the investigating period, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia were close to meeting the set targets and could be rated high compared to the EU countries. Poland, especially since 2015, has been noticeably and increasingly distanced from the other V4 countries. It can be perceived as a gradual drift away from Europeanization of the EU climate and energy policy in Poland.

Keywords: energy policy; the European Union; Visegrad countries; Europeanization; EU studies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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