With the dissolution of the Soviet Bloc, several nations in Eurasia and central and eastern Europe underwent radical changes in their economic structure, moving away from centrally planned to market economies. Additionally, some of them also experienced strong institutional changes due to entering the EU.
Andrew Jorgenson from Boston College, USA, and co-authors studied the influence of these transitions on the CO2 emissions generated by the electricity production systems of 25 nations. Analysis of the emissions generated in 2009 by a sample of 1,360 fossil-fuel power plants indicates that the increase in international trade is associated with increased plant-level emissions. However, the decision to join the EU led to a far greater reduction in plant-level emissions, with a stronger effect for nations that entered early (like the Czech Republic, in 2004) compared to late-entering nations (like Romania, in 2007).
Harmonization with EU environmental directives was a long and costly process but it produced a considerable mitigation effect: all other things being equal, the new EU members had lower plant-level CO2 emissions than their non-EU counterparts in the region.
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Graffeo, M. EU emissions benefits. Nature Clim Change 7, 388 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3312
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3312
