The sustainable energy transition has been advancing in Europe and across the world, but for different reasons, at different speeds and with different priorities. The shape, scope and speed of Europe's sustainable energy transition has been affected by both internal dynamics of policy, politics, economics and governance (such as the European Green Deal or the varied response to the Covid-19 crisis), and by external dimensions of geopolitics and geoeconomics (including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the related energy price crisis).

In this panel, we bring together four papers that explore the internal and external dimensions of Europe's sustainable energy transition. We examine 1. how the sustainable energy transition is faring, providing updated empirical data, in the context of the Russian war on Ukraine; 2. how the internal negotiations inside the intergovernmental bodies of the European Union proceeded, given the external developments; 3. how different actors engage with Europe in the geoeconomic concerns around the growing material needs of the sustainable energy transition; and 4. how a critical assessment of global sustainable energy transition models raises questions about the internal, external and geopolitical considerations that have often been neglected.

Altogether, the papers in the panel aim to contribute to both conceptual and empirical thinking and analysis on Europe's sustainable energy transition in a global context, by taking a closer look at and examining the interactions between internal and external political, geopolitical, and geoeconomic dynamics.

The panel brings together some of the researchers involved in the Erasmus+ research network ‘GreenDealNET’ to present their emerging and ongoing work.

Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine sent shockwaves throughout Europe and painfully exposed the continent's dependence on a geopolitical adversary. Europe is committed to phasing out Russian fossil fuel imports, whilst Russia, in turn, cut gas supplies to a number of countries and significantly reduced flows to others. In the winter of 2022-2023, gas prices started to fall, with high levels of gas supplies saved, and a mild winter helping to reduce consumption. We analyse what energy policy responses to the Russian invasion so far mean for environmental sustainability, energy equity and social justice, by building on previous analysis and updating with new empirical data from 2023. In doing so, we reveal strong potential for an acceleration of clean energy supply across Europe, but that this is coupled to complications for fossil fuel phase out, negative knock-on effects for sustainable transitions in the Global South, significant implications for energy equity within and beyond Europe, and a relative return of the state as an energy actor. We discuss what this means for winter of 2023 and for Europe's global role in the sustainable energy transition.

In passing the European Climate Law and unveiling the Fit for 55 package, the EU has signalled its commitment to the climate objectives of the European Green Deal, despite multiple crisis situations. By making the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 legally binding, the EU may have broken from the incrementalism that has characterised previous climate policy developments. In this paper, we focus in on the most reticent EU institution – the Council of the European Union – and ask the question: how have negotiations between ministers sitting in the Council allowed for the passage of the Climate Law and roll-out of the Fit for 55 Package of proposals? To answer this question, we provide data from 20 semi-structured interviews with policymakers in Brussels. We find that the East/West member state divide on climate policy may have become less pronounced as a result of a combination of external processes and events and internal institutional features of the Council itself. External factors contributing to member state support of enhanced ambition include: the Commission’s development of policy mixes, pressure felt by member states through policy monitoring, and geopolitical events (such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine)/natural disasters increasing a sense of urgency. Internal structures of the Council which have facilitated effective climate decision-making are: strong rotating presidencies, qualified majority voting (QMV) on climate matters, informal alliances made between member states depending on the dossier, and diplomatic horse-trading. This study therefore demonstrates the complexity of closing the East/West divide on climate policy in the Council and the fragility of staying the course on raising targets further.

Russia’s aggression of Ukraine spurred EU action to speed up the energy transition. At the same time, it heightened concerns about technological leadership and the new dependencies this development could bring. In this context, one of the key priorities of the New EU Industrial Policy is to build an industrial ecosystem with the capacity to act at the forefront of the energy transition, without relying on foreign resources, while tackling the issue of dependencies in strategic sectors. However, it is not clear whether and how such developments affect the relationship between the EU and European business actors. To what extent is the private sector aligned with the EU goal of strategic autonomy in the green tech sector? And to what extent can the EU shape business actors' strategies in a geoeconomic world order? This paper provides a preliminary answer to these questions focusing on three industrial alliances occupying the EU industrial landscape in the renewable energy sector as case studies: the European battery Alliance (EBA), the European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA), and the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance (ECH2A). The focus on these alliances is justified considering that they are instances of the European adaptation to a new geostrategic environment and the sectors’ reliance on global value chains from which the EU aims to divert.