FIT FOR IMPLEMENTATION? A WPR - analysis of how the European Commission frames implementation challenges in the Fit for 55 proposals

Sammanfattning: Climate change is a large scale problem, in need of swift emission reduction to ensure a secure future for all. The EU has a long history of policymaking in the environmental field, and a vast body of previous research dwelve deeper into the development, compliance and results of the legislation. In the very recent years, the EU has been ramping up its climate ambition, and is launching the Fit for 55 legislative proposals as a roadmap to European climate transition. To answer the research question Which implementation problems does the European Commission address in the Fit for 55 proposals?, this thesis uses an analytical framework which combines Bacchis WPR approach, with identified facilitators and stressors of collective action. The analysis found that the main problems that the Fit for 55 proposals wants to solve is not climate change itself – but rather continued EU financial prosperity, competitveness and market growth in the face of climate transition. While the Commission does identify several of the theoretically relevant implementation challenges in the material, others are abscent. A result which theoretically could imply that the Fit for 55 proposals have limited potential to overcome implementation challenges as the Commission leaves open paths that might encourage actors to free-ride, which in turn could have a negative effect on the desired targets of the legislative package.