Energy and sustainability in Eastern Europe: a post-Černobyl’ scenario or a more recent dynamic?

Written by: Concetta Formisano, Università Federico II Napoli.

Since the 1980s, the debate on sustainability, renewable sources of energy and energy transition has been one of the most lively discussions at the European level. Given the timing, one may be led to believe that the 1986 Černobyl’ disaster, which occurred in the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, closed so many doors to nuclear energy development in favor of renewable sources of energy. As a matter of fact, the accident provided a political opportunity to European environmentalisms and shaped the transnational phenomenon of anti-nuclear movements. Despite this, the European Union, since the beginning of its history, has given great importance to energy issues and the debate on sustainability, renewable sources of energy and energy transition itself predates Černobyl’ disaster. The treaties and archival documents of the European Union provide the possibility to reconstruct the debate’s phases with particular attention to the development of the contents relating to the subject itself and the evolution of concepts.

In fact, by focusing on the emergence of the concepts of “renewable energy” and “energy transition” , we can establish the terminus post quem of the issue in the 1980s: the archival documents of Historical Archives of the European Union are an example of how terminology about energy transition evolves alongside with the international debate and, in particular, following the Nairobi United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy in 1981, long before nuclear energy revealed its destructive potential in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The legislation on energy and sustainability in Europe came about thanks to the Earth Summit of 1992 and the promulgation of the Maastricht Treaty during the same year. A careful analysis of the archival documents demonstrates that the debate on sustainability, renewable sources of energy and energy transition developed independently from the Černobyl’ disaster, even though it’s impossible to deny the centrality role of this event, which revealed the weaknesses of the Soviet bloc and shocked all Europe, opening a new chapter in the European energy history. Despite this, the development of renewable sources of energy initially focused on Central and Western Europe and has only recently shifted towards Eastern Europe. Therefore, on one hand, this work aims to retrace the history of concepts related to the development of renewable sources of energy within the European Union’s archives, with particular attention to the disaster that struck at the heart of the energy issue, especially in Eastern Europe. On the other hand, this work aims to analyze the actual beginning of Eastern European involvement in European Union investments in renewable sources of energy.

Energy has been an issue in the current European Union since the dawn of its history. Despite this, the establishment of the EEC (European Economic Community) in 1957 contained no specific provision on the subject. Therefore, the debate on energy transition and renewable sources of energy on the European stage follows the same time frame as the international debate because on December 18, 1968, the Commission presented to the other organs and institutions of the European Community and to the interested public the First guideline for a Community energy policy marked the beginning of a new phase for the concept of “European integration”^[1]. However, as early as the following year, the European framework on energy issues rapidly changed and then abruptly became more complicated during the 1970s (the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972 brought the issue of environmental protection to Europe overbearingly and, at the same time, the Tehran and Tripoli agreements in early 1971 first and then the 1973 oil shock underscored the changed attitude of oil-producing countries toward the energy market). It is at this historical juncture, in 1972, that the European Commission, through a communication to the Council, identifies the crux of the energy issue: “today, the problems about energy supply are a part of a global context that attempts at national solutions seem, from the outset, doomed to failure. But even Community decisions, if they really want to take account of their own interests, must involve permanent consideration of what is happening in third countries”^[2]. In spite of the fact that this document also mentions that “ensuring better protection of the environment will oblige national and EU public authorities to be more involved in the market’s development, both by enacting regulations and by adopting fiscal measures” in order to pursue “the dual objective of sufficient energy supply and better environmental conditions”, the document never refers to the renewable and/or alternative energies’ development (the only alternative to fossil fuels mentioned is nuclear energy)^[3]. Therefore, the first European projects on transition to new sources of energy date back to the late 1970s, however it wasn’t until the early 1980s, during the preparatory moments for the United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy in Nairobi in 1981, that the topic fully entered the European agenda^[4]. Indeed, the European program on this topic takes shape the previous year: “in particular, the Commission drew attention to the need to progressively harmonize energy prices and taxation; to promote an investment program to support Member States’ efforts to encourage energy saving, the replacement of oil with energy from other sources, the reduction of dependence on external supplies and the development of other renewable sources of energy; and to examine the real possibilities of financing this program”^[5].

However, the European Commission, on the eve of the Conference, expressed some concerns­­ about the exclusive focus on renewable sources of energy: “particular importance is attached to this event because it will be the first real UN conference with energy as its central topic, albeit limited to new and renewable sources of energy. It will be of particular interest to developing countries and will also provide guidelines for future cooperation between industrialized and developing countries in this field. The Conference is also likely to take place at a time when the energy crisis will hit the economies of many developing countries even harder”^[6].

On the document’s very first page, the proposal – rejected by United Nations – made by Argentina, Pakistan and Yugoslavia to examine nuclear energy issues (considered by these countries as alternatives to classical fossil fuels and, perhaps, also by the European Union but not by the United Nations) is highlighted in a footnote^[7]. Because of the rejection of this proposal, the Conference aimed solely and exclusively to be a meeting to discuss about the state of renewable sources of energy technology development and, in particular, to explore about the possibility of transferring these technologies to developing countries by establishing the first real dialogue between the “North” and the “South” of the world on renewables and development in general. Although the EU program drawn up for the occasion was open to prospects for technological research focused on the development of renewable sources of energy, it is still not possible to speak about an organic program for development and installation – within EU borders – of such technologies but only of studies aimed at assessing the feasibility: “the first limitation concerns the technical maturity not achieved yet for some of these technologies; it is a question of proving feasibility, increasing reliability or developing production methods … The Community tries to solve these problems by implementing joint research and development programs alongside and complementing national programs”^[8].

So, this is an embryonic stage of the debate of which program’s point A entitled “solar energy (including biomass and wind energy)” is symptomatic^[9]. The EU’s international cooperation program for sharing renewable sources of energy technology developments is more structured, but, in this phase, Europe lacks the necessary knowledge to export technologies. Its sole aim is to share the stages of research and technology testing in collaboration with agencies such as the OECD, FAO, UNDP and the World Bank, in the spirit of the fresh renewal of the Lomé Convention. Another sign of this embryonic moment in the debate is the terminology used for energies that, today, we define as renewable: “particular importance is attached to new energies, defined in the document as ‘replacement energies’. The specific interest of alternative energies in developing countries is thus explicitly recognized, especially because they are better suited to solving the particular problems of these countries than traditional energies which, to be profitable, require a concentration of the power produced”^[10].

Within a few months, the EU documents on the Nairobi Conference were filled with an entirely new expression that would, from this point on, characterize the entire European policy on energy and environmental sustainability. The European Commission, in July 1981, presented the Conference to the Council as follows: “this is the first United Nations conference that specifically has energy as its main topic, i.e. the establishment, at international level, of a debate above all on what has been agreed to be called the energy transition”^[11]. At the same time, terms such as “new energies”, “replacement energies” and “alternative energies” were dropped in favor of the definition, itself in transition, of “new and renewable sources of energy”. Shortly afterwards, the current term “renewable sources of energy/renewable energy” appeared in official European Commission documents^[12].

At the same time, the Community pursues energy saving as a keyword for sustainable development and energy transition^[13].

Therefore, the EEC’s 1980s continued under the aegis of the developing guidelines for a transition to new and renewable sources of energy. Already on the eve of the Černobyl’ disaster, the future European Union outlined the framework of an EU guideline for the development of these energy sources. Not only the reasons for the interest in such energy sources (the need for emancipation from energy resources outside the Community, for example), but also possible criticalities that had not been mentioned up to that point, are pointed out in this document: “even taking into account the fact that these sources are often linked to local geographical conditions and that the interest in their utilization is not uniform all over the Community, it’s still important to achieve a certain developmental balance by avoiding a scattered or divergent approach”^[14].

In addition, the pros and cons of using these sources of energy are listed below, introducing issues that will later be useful in contextualizing local policies for the use of renewable sources of energy in eligible areas as there is “the possibility of using them [renewables] locally, i.e. responding to regional energy needs, simplifying energy transport infrastructures, and favoring a more decentralized energy management”^[15]. In this sense, during these same years, the first EEC directive on environmental impact assessment was promulgated, another important step – still binding today, although updated over time, along with strategic environmental assessment – for understanding decisions related to the installation of plants for energy production from renewable sources of energy at a local level in areas considered suitable^[16]. However, some of the cons identified are: “a more dispersed potential, difficult to concentrate on high power and difficult to transport or store; supply fluctuations that may … require … recourse to other sources of energy and generally expensive storage techniques”^[17].

While 1981 represents a real turning point in the debate on energy transition and renewable sources of energy, both globally and in Europe, it is 1992 – thanks to Rio Conference – that marks the symbolic year on the normative level. Indeed, until 1992 the European Community had no specific powers in energy affairs and, therefore, “this gap necessitated, in the first decades of the integration process, recourse to Art. 308 … which allowed the Community to exercise the powers necessary … to achieve its aims even where it doesn’t have explicit competence”^[18]. The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 – with which the expression EEC was officially replaced by EC (European Community) – was a further step in this field: Art. 3B states that “in areas which don’t fall within its exclusive competence, the Community shall act, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, only if the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, can be better achieved by the Community”^[19].

At this point we can start to speak, on a normative level, about energy. While point T of Art. 3 includes measures on energy, civil protection and tourism among the tasks of the Union, Art. 129b on “trans-European networks” (an expression already used in point N of Art. 3) takes a further step by entrusting a new task to the supranational institution: “Community contributes to the establishment and development of trans-European networks in the areas of transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructure”^[20]. Therefore, in this Article the energy issue is brought together with the issue of the so-called trans-European networks, two issues not presented as linked in the first pages of the Treaty. Advancing on the analysis of the Maastricht Treaty by topics, Title XVI focuses on environment and its preservation. It is at this point that, where the energy sector is mentioned, measures having an appreciable impact on a Member State’s choice between different energy sources and on the general structure of its energy supply are mentioned, thus making reference to the diversification of sources of energy, a prerogative necessary for the preservation of the Community environment^[21].

Because of these preparatory measures, on the eve and aftermath of the historic Rio Conference in 1992, the young European Union first presented the Program for a European Energy Charter and then the ALTENER Program, a Community action program for the development of renewable sources of energy for the period between 1993 and 1997. The topics developed were, as always, security of supply, environmental sustainability and economic return. However, this time for each source of energy identified as renewable, pros and cons are analyzed individually in order to build a specific pathway for each of them across Europe. Here, despite the fact that the action program covers the period between 1993 and 1997, the commitments made on the international stage impose objectives on Europe that are projected well beyond the 20th century: “the recommendation of the Toronto Conference on the reduction of CO₂ by 2005 as well as the Council decision on the stabilization of carbon dioxide emissions in the Community by the year 2000 at 1990 level call for specific quantitative targets in the field of renewable sources of energy for the first time in the Community … Because of these Community commitments, the horizon of 2005 seems to be the most appropriate choice”^[22].

Therefore, during the first decade of the new millennium, the foundations – still solid today – of European public intervention in the field of renewable sources of energy were laid. The explicit legitimization of the European role in energy is contained in Art. 194 of the TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union), which became effective in this form with the Lisbon Treaty of 2009^[23]. Title XXI of the Treaty, indeed, is entirely dedicated to the topic of energy and opens with the aforementioned Article. The first lines of the Article immediately lay out the stakes of the Union’s main energy interests: the establishment and functioning of the internal market and the need to preserve and improve the environment^[24]. Point C of Art. 194 also specifies interest in energy saving, energy efficiency, and the development of new and renewable sources of energy (interestingly, here we have returned to the wording “new and renewable sources of energy”)^[25]. However, it should be emphasized that these provisions “don’t affect a member state’s right to determine the conditions of use of its own sources of energy, the choice among various sources of energy and the general structure of its energy supply” and today, with the rise of a new “Energy Union” model, the idea that the Union’s energy independence must be entrusted to “the sum and not the union of the supply policies of individual member states” with the consequent acceptance of the inherent differences in competitiveness between the various states, which, in the case of renewable sources of energy, also reflect geographic and environmental variations^[26]. Due to the focus on environmental protection, Art. 194 of the Treaty is to be read in conjunction with Arts. 11, 191 and 192. Indeed, Art. 11 (ex-Art. 6 of the TEC) says that “environmental protection requirements must be integrated into the definition and implementation of the Union’s policies and activities, in particular with a view to promoting sustainable development”^[27]. On the other hand, Art. 191 ( ex-Art. 174 TEC) lays the foundation for European environmental goals: protection and improvement of the environment, safeguarding human health and, in connection with the topic of renewable sources of energy, the prudent and rational utilization of natural resources^[28]. Finally, Art. 192 ( ex-Art. 175 TEC), outlines the actions to be taken by the Union to realize the purposes expressed in the previous Article^[29]. Therefore, the synchronic reading of these articles highlights what the new connection between energy policy and environmental policy looks like: “the integration of energy and environmental policy represents one of the most innovative and decisive challenges of the European institutions’ initiative and how the relationship between these compartments shouldn’t be declined as opposition or subalternity of one to the other but rather as a fruitful alliance because they contribute to the same goals”^[30].

These measures have materialized within the Climate-Energy Package through the 20-20-20 targets. In summary: reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by 20% from 1990 levels; improving energy efficiency by 20%; achieving a 20% quota of energy produced by renewable sources.

The 2014 project Be EU. 8 outlets for one Parliament observed the development of renewable sources of energy in six countries including four in Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovenia). Eurostat data show that Bulgaria had already achieved its European targets for 2020 in 2014 (EU 2020 target: 16%; 2014: 16,3%, +6,7% compared to 2004). Data from other countries involved: Croatia, 16,8% (EU 2020 target: 20%; +3,6% compared to 2004); Romania, 22,9% (EU 2020 target: 24%; +6,1% compared to 2004); Slovenia, 20,2% (EU 2020 target: 25%; +4,1% compared to 2004)^[31]. In all four countries, biomass is the most developed renewable source of energy (over 60% in each of the mentioned countries)^[32].

Despite this, it was only after 2020 that the turning point for the development of renewable sources of energy in Eastern Europe occurred. Indeed, in 2020, the European Commission approved the rules for the functioning of the Modernisation Fund reserved for ten Eastern European countries – Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary – to promote investment in renewable sources of energy, energy efficiency, storage systems and network upgrades^[33]. In support of a fair transition, funding was also allocated to the industrial conversion of four countries in particular – Poland, Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria – which needed to close coal-fired power plants in order to focus on zero-emission energy sources^[34]. These four countries still had over 50 GW of coal-fired power plants still not covered by phase-out policies^[35]. According to the study Investing in the Recovery and Transition of European Coal Regions published by BNEF (Bloomberg New Energy Finance) in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies, these four countries account for approximately two-thirds of the installed coal capacity still not covered by a coal exit policy^[36]. The fund provided for 14 billion from the auctioning of CO₂ allowances on the ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) market for the period 2021-2030^[37]. This fund became operational in January 2021.

In conclusion, the debate on energy transition, sustainability and renewable sources of energy is clearly independent from the 1986 Černobyl’ disaster: it began earlier and, at first, it was more about energetic and technologic concerns than about environmental ones. Perhaps the political consequence of the Černobyl’ disaster is that it brought environmentalism and anti-nuclear battle closer together by increasing interest in renewable sources of energy and its development in Europe. In short, while it’s not easy to determine the precise impact of these events on the current debate surrounding energy transition, sustainability and renewable sources of energy, it is certain that the debate arose independently. Indeed, the debate was more related to the oil shocks of the 1970s, specifically from the perspective of energy supply and energy security issues, rather than environmental issues. So, the debate began out of the necessity for energy supply and energy security, but was later fueled by environmentalist and anti-nuclear reasons, which gained further strength in the new Millennium due to the climate and energy crisis.

Despite this, there are some European countries that have a long tradition in nuclear energy – in particular, France – and others who periodically express a willingness to return to investing in nuclear energy, such as Italy. However, the memory of Černobyl’ disaster is still alive in Europe – in particular in Eastern Europe – and the Fukushima disaster in 2011 reinvigorated it.

Meanwhile, the European Union, including through the REPowerEU program, aims to create the first geopolitical area based on Green Economy principles by 2050 through the implementation of green technologies and incentive and concerted policies^[38]. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of northeastern European countries are on the right track. At the beginning of 2024, Sweden and Finland rank first and second, respectively, in the ranking for greatest use of energy from renewable sources with very high percentages^[39]. Latvia, Denmark and Estonia follow these two countries while outside of the EU first and second places are occupied by Norway and Albania^[40]. At the same time, the measures relating to the Next Generation EU program developed by the European Union for the post-COVID period have meant that the highest percentages of funds in relation to GDP have been recorded in Southern and Eastern European countries (Greece, Croatia, Spain, Romania, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Hungary and Slovakia)^[41]. In particular, Hungary plans to allocate 67% of its resources to climate and environmental objectives, followed by Bulgaria (57%), Slovakia (48%) and Poland (47%)^[42]. Of the Eastern European countries involved, Poland has allocated 58% of its resources to the development of renewable sources of energy (the highest rate overall), Lithuania 57%, Hungary 51% and Bulgaria 45%^[43]. Considering the extremely high percentages of funds allocated to the sector and the general backwardness in terms of renewable sources of energy, it’s clear that over the next few years, the data will show further growth in these countries, despite the critical issues relating to the domestic politics of some of them.

Endnotes

1. COM(1972)1200, 1; Varsori, Processo di integrazione europea, 20-21. ↑
2. Ibid., 2. ↑
3. Ibid., 3; COM(1976), 2. ↑
4. COM(1978)672; Garavini, After Empires, 227. ↑
5. COM(1980)301, 1. ↑
6. SEC(1980)511, 1. ↑
7. Ibid. ↑
8. COM(1981)3, 7. ↑
9. Ibid., 4 (Biomass and wind energy will become two independent subprograms from the solar energy subprogram only a few years later); SEC(1984)80. ↑
10. Ibid., 13. ↑
11. COM(1981)381, 1. ↑
12. COM(1987)432; COM(1988)316. ↑
13. SEC(1980)1503. ↑
14. COM(1986)12, 3. ↑
15. Ibid., 4. ↑
16. Cavelli, Aperta la via, 7. ↑
17. COM(1986)12, 4. ↑
18. Ibid. Here reference is made to issues related to the principle of legality and implicit administrative powers. Art. 308, even before Art. 235 of the EC Treaty, gives the European Council the power to adopt by unanimity, on a proposal from the Commission and consultation with the Parliament, the appropriate provisions when a Community action, although not provided for in the Treaty itself, is necessary to achieve one of the purposes of the Community. ↑
19. Gazzetta ufficiale dell’Unione Europea, “Trattato sull’Unione Europea”, C191/1, 6. ↑
20. Ibid., 25. ↑
21. Ibid., 29. ↑
22. Ibid., 23. ↑
23. Cfr. Ammanati, La transizione energetica. ↑
24. Gazzetta ufficiale dell’Unione Europea, TFUE, C326/49, 88. ↑
25. Ibid. ↑
26. Ibid., 89; Péruzy et al., Nuova Unione dell’Energia, 35. ↑
27. Ibid., 7. ↑
28. Ibid., 86. ↑
29. Ibid., 87. ↑
30. Cocconi, Poteri pubblici e mercato, 23. ↑
31. Eurostat, March 2014. ↑
32. Ibid. ↑
33. Redazione, Parte fondo Ue. ↑
34. Ibid. ↑
35. Ibid. ↑
36. Redazione, Quattro Paesi est. ↑
37. Redazione, Parte fondo Ue. ↑
38. Scotti, Green energy policy, 673-674. ↑
39. Huges, Energie rinnovabili. ↑
40. Ibid. ↑
41. Redazione, La sfida della transizione. ↑
42. Ibid. ↑
43. Ibid. ↑

Bibliography

Archival documents

Gazzetta ufficiale dell’Unione Europea, Trattato sul funzionamento dell’Unione Europea (TFUE) (versione consolidata), C326/47.

Gazzetta ufficiale dell’Unione Europea, Trattato sull’Unione Europea (TUE), C191/1.

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