Steering the Green Transition in the European Union? Analysis of the European Commission's Strategic Communication

This paper examines the strategic communication of the European Commission about developing a regulatory approach and financial instruments to foster the greening of the European economy over a period of 14 years (2009–2023). We investigate in-depth the strategic communication of three European Commission Colleges led by Barroso, Juncker, and von der Leyen, respectively. We analyze an original dataset of 57 Commission Communications using qualitative content analysis. The paper demonstrates that, over the past 14 years, the EU's strategic agenda-setting has moved away from a predominantly neoliberal approach of limited state involvement in the economy to one foreseeing more active state intervention, especially in the provision of financial resources and the design of integrated policies to guide the green transition. The findings highlight the crucial role of the Commission in steering the EU's climate action policies, as shown by the adoption of the European Green Deal in 2019.