Going beyond the Council as brake of EU energy policy: Analysing the internal process of the Council in the recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive

The Council is the voice of the member states' governments in the EU policymaking process and the institutional setting where member states can enforce their national interest. The literature on Council decision-making has previously mostly used expert interviews or voting patterns. Through a detailed examination of one specific legislative file in the recent ‘Fit for 55’ climate package in which subsidiarity and varying national conditions is central, this study focus on how disagreements between member states are resolved and how strategic word framing can aid in resolving political controversies in EU energy policy. This article analyses Council working group meeting notes and revisions of the recent recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, providing a unique look behind the curtains of negotiations between member states in the Council within a deliberative intergovernmental framework. A mix of quantitative and qualitative text analysis is applied to deliberations and legislative revisions. The findings show that a fragile consensus is reached despite disagreement through enabling of national flexibility in policy decisions, indicating that the Council determines the speed of European integration in the policy domain. • National conditions of EU member states impact Council deliberations. • No single aspect of the building stocks clearly explains the sentiment expressed. • Consensus around technical aspects is reached through national flexibility. • The Council determines the speed of the transition to energy efficient buildings. • The intergovernmental aspect is important for effective EU energy policy.