This presentation aims to foster a constructive discussion on the capacity of the European Union (EU) to be an impactful actor in the global post-carbon transition, by adopting a critical standpoint of Energy Communities (ECs) on EU environmental policy. ECs are Community-led Initiatives promoting the co-production of and consumption of renewable energy. Based on the consultation of policy documents and semi-structured interviews, it analyses EU- and Member State-level institutional arrangements that maintain a fossil-fuel, corporate-oriented status quo, based on a performance-based efficiency approach. The analysis addresses the capacity of institutions for cross-sector collaboration in promoting energy systems prepared to contain the impacts of environmental, economic, and geopolitical shocks on populations and territories. Interviews were conducted among the European Federation of Citizen Energy Cooperatives (REScoop) and the European nodes of four global EC networks: The Global Ecovillages Network (GEN-Europe), the Transition Network (TN) and the Intercontinental Platform for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS-Europe). Findings indicate that the institutional obstacles do not result only from arrangements at the EU and Member State levels. It also results from discursive and organizational constraints on the capacity of EC networks for political advocacy.

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Energy Communities,Green New Deal,Community-led Initiatives,Transnational Networks,Collective Action