Narrating power: the European Commission and the geopolitics of the energy transition

The European Commission (EC) seeks to position the EU as a global leader in the energy transition by enhancing its geopolitical influence and reducing its dependence on fossil fuels. This paper analyses the EC’s narratives on energy transition and decarbonisation in relation to the EU’s emerging geopolitical actorness. Drawing on a critical geopolitical perspective, it shows how speeches by EC representatives strategically deploy narratives to construct the EU’s identity as a leading global actor in energy transition governance, one that integrates the roles of a competitive economic power, a normative power and a geopolitical power. Furthermore, this paper illustrates that the EC simultaneously reimagines the geopolitical configuration of its energy relations by redefining its international partnerships and dependencies. In doing so, the EC reinforces the EU’s self-image as a centre of values projected onto the energy transition, even though this value framework is applied selectively.