Legal Pathways of Decarbonisation in the EU: The Case of Coal Phase-out

Is the Energy Union strategy prompting the legal change needed to support the low-carbon transition? This article argues that each decarbonisation pathway discussed in the climate change literature should also identify one or more possible legal pathways. The latter are defined as the sets of institutional factors which interact with political, economic, social and technological drivers of decarbonisation strategies and influence the design and effects of climate tools. The example of coal phase-out is employed to discuss the legal pathways moulded by the Energy Union strategy. Emission limits for greenhouse gases in capacity mechanisms, emission limits for air pollutants and measures aimed at allocating the costs of decommissioning coal-fired power plants are assessed. The impact of each measure is conditional on several institutional factors, most prominently the distribution of decisionmaking powers across institutional levels and the coordination between energy law, climate law and environmental law. The interplay of these institutional factors influences the implementation and interpretation of EU and national measures aimed at accelerating coal phase-out. Identifying legal pathways helps establish which decarbonisation processes are feasible and how to manage the many types of lock-in the low-carbon transition is going to face.