Christopher Crellin

EU environmental policy processes are structured and influenced by coalitions of different shapes and sizes. Despite the structural variation, no systematic mapping or characterization of coalitions has been conducted. Consequently, this paper asks: what are the different types of coalitions present in EU environmental policy processes within the European Green Deal? Focusing on five policy processes related to the European Green Deal, coalitions are mapped and characterized across five structural dimensions, forming a coalition typology. Among the five policy processes 59 coalitions are identified and characterized into six types: the peripheral, the moderate authoritative, the fragmented, the colossal, the policy generalist, and the commanding. The typology proposes a way forward to explore coalition building and change, and the relationship between the structural configurations of coalitions, their strategies, and success.

The European Union (EU) relies on the input of scientific knowledge and external policy advice to develop and justify its climate policy. This link between the EU and external policy actors, including Brussels‐based think tanks, has emboldened amid multiple crises faced by the EU. Using crisis, Brussels‐based think tanks may alter their activities by acting strategically in attempts to influence EU policy‐making and enhance their prominence by promoting ideas, knowledge and policy recommendations. This research note sets out to examine the climate policy link between the EU and Brussels‐based think tanks and the changing activities of Brussels‐based think tanks during the Brexit crisis, given Brexit has raised questions around the EU's ability to continually develop ambitious climate policy and sustain its climate leadership. Drawing on a dataset of over 800 think tank documents and applying a time‐series regression and descriptive social network analysis, changes in the climate‐related publication productivity and co‐authorship networking activities of three Brussels‐based think tanks – Bruegel, CEPS and EPC – are examined before and after the Brexit referendum. The results show that Brussels‐based think tanks' climate‐related publication productivity and their co‐authorship networking activities change before and after the Brexit referendum, but in different ways, highlighting the need to consider the characteristics of individual think tanks vis‐à‐vis their role in EU policy‐making.