Institute for International
Cooperation and Development Studies

Transnational power networks in energy policies of the EU. The European Commission before oil and natural gas.
DOCTORAL THESIS

Transnational power networks in energy policies of the EU. The European Commission before oil and natural gas.

Ana Moreno Regaña

On October 5th, 2018, Ana Moreno Regaña defended her doctoral thesis enrolled in our Doctoral Programme in Development Studies. The thesis is titled Redes transnacionales de poder en la política energética de la UE. La Comisión Europea ante el petróleo y el gas natural (Transnational power networks in energy policies of the EU. The European Commission before oil and natural gas) and has been supervised by Yolanda Jubeto Ruíz and Mertxe Larrañaga Sarriegui.

The research investigates how the common relations and interests between the people who have formed or form part of the European Commission and the big companies involved in the oil and natural gas business have been able to influence the energetic markets’ change of model in the territory, as well as the mechanisms implemented to ensure its advance and reproduction.

The study is set out from a critical international political economy with the objective of revealing the social origin of the liberalization strategy of the energy markets, explained as a result of a political election. For this, a journey through the construction of the EU energy policies is conducted, considering that, as a result, it originates from the interactions of the different social powers in the political arena, structurally predisposed in terms of selection, which the EU represents.

This way, the study moves away from the general questioning on the prevalence of national or supranational interests in the energetic governance, to questioning on the forms of organisation of the elites involved in the sector, for the connections between these organisations and the European political elites and for the effects that these relations have on the European energy governance. From this approach, the problem for European energetic security is related to the conglomerate of private interest that surround the sector and that can represent an obstacle for the development of adequate policies.

Details

  • Date
    2018 October 5
  • Grade
    Distinction Cum Laude

Thesis supervisor

Yolanda Jubeto
Professor and researcher
Mertxe Larrañaga
Professor and researcher

Research lines

International economic institutions and economic integration