Policy learning or politics as usual? Explaining the rise and retrenchment of renewable support policies in Europe

This paper analyses the changing nature of renewable policies within the EU and the processes of policy learning that have contributed to those changes. While one part of this story is well-known - the transfer of policy ideas associated with the take-up of renewable support mechanisms, particularly the diffusion of the "Feed-In Tariff" - the subsequent retrenchment of renewable policies is less well understood. The paper considers whether the reduction, and some cases the reversal, of support which has taken place in a number of member states over the last decade can also be seen as an example of policy learning. In this case the process comprises both a domestic component (reactions to the unanticipated consequences of earlier policy choices) and an international component (policy-makers borrowing measures adopted by "early retrenchers" with the EU as a forum or even a catalyst for redefining policies). The paper assesses the analytical value of a policy learning approach compared with other explanations for such policy changes, particularly those which draw upon more conventional political drivers such as political parties, interest groups and institutional conditions