Energy, Sustainability and Society, Vol 16, Article 6, 2026, 12 p.
The aim of the energy policy proclaimed by all German federal governments since the Fukushima incident of 2011 is a fundamental transformation of the national energy system towards renewable (excluding nuclear) energies. However, since German energy policy is embedded into a European multilevel governance system, not only national but also European forces shape the German Energiewende. By analysing the complex political and legal interlinkages, this study identifies fits and misfits between national and European policy initiatives in functionally related energy fields. First, it finds broad coherence between the EU and German energy transition objectives. Objectives deviate in one area, the phase-out of nuclear power in Germany which is not paralleled at the EU level. Secondly, it observes more extensive misfits around the preferred policy instruments that have pressured Germany to change. This concerns instruments tied to the support of renewable energy and the operation of electricity networks in support of the transition. Here, the German policy approach saw a misfit with internal energy market regulations in the EU. Whereas European adaptation pressure caused a shift in the German renewable energy support policy, resulting in a slowdown in the expansion of renewable energies, EU pressure to end coal subsidies helped accelerate the phase-out of coal in Germany.
