This presentation explores the spatial standards contained in the European energy-climate legislation and considers them as geo-ethical norms (Brennetot, 2020). I show how, under an apparent geographical neutrality, European law enhances specific energy spatialities: those compatible with the functioning of a single liberalised market and a supra-national jurisdiction (Valverde, 2009). European law plays a pivotal role in coordinating an effective low-carbon transition on the continent. Geographers have shown that regulating low-carbon futures, fundamentally raised a question of spatial production. And yet, EU law leaves little room for geographical inquiries: its vocabulary is mostly aspatial, and its spirit, foreign to a logic attentive to localized practices. Rationalizing spatial differentiation is critical to the workings of a non-discriminatory legislation aiming at guaranteeing energy equity. Thus, while law is known to affect the structural causes that form and inform spatialities, EU law showcases a perplexing spatial imperceptibility. There, drawing on an institutional ethnography and 29 interviews led in Brussels in 2020, I defend that space is not absent in EU law. Rather, distinct spatialities fit the legislation to a greater or lesser extent. There are spatialities that the “market can see” (Robertson, 2006), for it to be working and internally regulated. Furthermore, ethnographical data highlight how interplays between actors, distribution of competencies, and bureaucratic routines formulate geo-ethical norms practiced in EU institutions, that sustain such market-oriented axiomatics. I thus suggest 5 types of spatialities unevenly 'compliant' with the European ideal-typical of transition and evaluate their recent evolution. Compliance is defined as adherence to specific laws and convergence with EU principles. I support that identifying geo-ethical norms helps understanding how law affects our energy practices, in a context of needed transformation.
Mots clés : Geo-legal |Energy transition |Geo-ethical norms |Ethnography|European Union
A104042ES