“Energy has the Potential to Divide Us” - Foundation Office Washington, D.C.
Event Reports
The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and The Center for Transatlantic Relations hosted an informal roundtable discussion with senior energy and climate policy experts from U.S. think tanks to discuss how to improve the geo-political outreach and dialogue on energy and climate challenges.
Part of the visit was also an informal meeting with a dozen senior staff members from different committees of the House of Representatives who have energy and climate as their portfolio. All participants welcomed the opportunity to hold a frank and honest discussion about the challenges both sides of the Atlantic face in obtaining energy security.
To start off Dr. Dolzer briefly outlined Germany’s current energy transition, known as the Energiewende, which aims to achieve an energy mix dominated by renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable development. Germany’s grand coalition government is revisiting the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), which was being debated in the German Parliament July 2014, with the attempt to constrain costs for renewables. Currently the German government invests into the production of renewables around $22 billion annually. These reforms, however, are not to be misunderstood as a rejection of the Energiewende. There is still broad support by the German public for renewables and the phase-out of nuclear.
Dr. Dolzer emphasized that Energy policy in Europe is a shared competence between the EU and its member states; something that was established by the Lisbon Treaty in 2009. Despite all efforts there is no single energy market. The Treaty determined that core aspects of energy policy, such as liberalizing the energy market through improved interconnections resides with the EU, national energy mix, however, remains a competency of member states.
U.S. experts and the staffers were interested in how Germany determines its energy mix, and whether alternatives such as fracking or returning to nuclear energy production are still viable options for Germany. Here Dr. Dolzer was able to outline for his American audience the economic and political implications due to the energy transition in Germany.
Improving energy efficiency is one of the steps to improve current energy policy on both sides of the Atlantic. A lot can be accomplished in the area of energy efficiency, with great potential for long-term transatlantic cooperation. Furthermore, finding the right sustainable energy mix and intensifying the transatlantic dialogue are crucial for our common future energy policies.
Dr. Dolzer suggests there is a need for more direct contact among German and American energy experts to better address world events. “It is going to divide us otherwise,” Dr. Dolzer said. Events like the Ukraine crisis only illustrates how important it is for more dialogue on energy.
The world-wide phenomenon is that the international communities for defense, foreign policy and trade meet on a regular basis to discuss policy options; however the energy community does not have a meaningful and resourceful transatlantic forum to exchange ideas and data on energy and climate concerns.
Dr. Dolzer also advised to think about a potential new institution which could foster the dialogue between Washington and Brussels about this topic. He is currently working on the design for a new Transatlantic Energy Council.
