ORIGINAL PAPER
The influence of migration processes on the energy policy of the eu countries
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Economic Faculty, Department of Management of Innovation and Investment Activity, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
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Economic Faculty, Department of Economic Cybernetics, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
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SSI “Institute of Educational Analytics”, Ukraine
Submission date: 2025-09-30
Final revision date: 2025-10-13
Acceptance date: 2025-11-03
Publication date: 2026-06-30
Corresponding author
Oleksandr Soboliev
Economic Faculty, Department of Management of Innovation and Investment Activity, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, 60 Volodymyrska St., 01033, Kyiv, Ukraine
Polityka Energetyczna – Energy Policy Journal 2026;29(2):187-212
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ABSTRACT
The European Union’s (EU) flagship packages – Fit for 55, REPowerEU and member-state National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) – aim to accelerate the shift toward renewables, yet they downplay two fast-moving demand drivers: digitalization and migration. Guided by the hypotheses that (H1) these forces have become central to governmental agenda- setting and (H2) they exert a strong, quantifiable impact on energy-policy trajectories, this study analyses annual data for France, Germany, Poland and Czechia from 2000 to 2021. Country-specific ordinary-least-squares models link electricity or primary-energy demand to household ICT penetration, net migration flows, investment and macro-controls. Results show that a 1-percentage-point rise in ICT access increases electricity use in Poland (+0.31%) and Czechia (+0.19%) but reduces primary-energy demand in Germany (–0.42%) and France (–0.25%). An additional 100,000 migrants consistently raises demand by 0.10–0.17% across the four countries. Scenario extensions that account for post-2022 Ukrainian refugee inflows and rapid data-centre growth indicate that current NECP benchmarks could understate 2030 electricity demand by roughly 4–6 TWh, complicating renewable-capacity rollout schedules. Incorporating digital- and migration-related elasticities into the 2026 NECP revisions would make national RES targets and grid-investment plans more robust under heightened demographic and technological uncertainty.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The Authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
METADATA IN OTHER LANGUAGES:
Polish
Wpływ procesów migracyjnych na politykę energetyczną państw UE
zużycie energii, migracja, cyfryzacja, modelowanie, polityka energetyczna, wskaźniki makroekonomiczne, PKB, inwestycje, inwestycje oparte na kryteriach ESG
Flagowe pakiety Unii Europejskiej (UE) – „Fit for 55”, „REPowerEU” oraz krajowe plany energetyczno-klimatyczne (NECP) państw członkowskich – mają na celu przyspieszenie przejścia na odnawialne źródła energii, jednak pomijają dwa szybko zmieniające się czynniki wpływające na popyt: cyfryzację i migrację. Opierając się na hipotezach, że (H1) siły te stały się kluczowe dla ustalania agendy rządowej oraz (H2) wywierają one silny, wymierny wpływ na trajektorie polityki energetycznej, niniejsze badanie analizuje dane roczne dla Francji, Niemiec, Polski i Czech z lat 2000–2021. Modele uzyskane metodą najmniejszych kwadratów dla poszczególnych krajów łączą popyt na energię elektryczną lub energię pierwotną z penetracją technologii informacyjno-komunikacyjnych (ICT) w gospodarstwach domowych, przepływami migracyjnymi netto, inwestycjami oraz czynnikami makroekonomicznymi. Wyniki pokazują, że wzrost dostępu do technologii informacyjno-komunikacyjnych o 1 punkt procentowy zwiększa zużycie energii elektrycznej w Polsce (+0,31%) i Czechach (+0,19%), ale zmniejsza zapotrzebowanie na energię pierwotną w Niemczech (–0,42%) i Francji (–0,25%). Dodatkowe 100 000 migrantów konsekwentnie podnosi popyt o 0,10–0,17% we wszystkich czterech krajach. Rozszerzenia scenariuszy uwzględniające napływ uchodźców z Ukrainy po 2022 r. oraz szybki rozwój centrów danych wskazują, że obecne wskaźniki NECP mogą zaniżać zapotrzebowanie na energię elektryczną w 2030 r. o około 4–6 TWh, co komplikuje harmonogramy wdrażania mocy odnawialnych. Uwzględnienie elastyczności związanych z cyfryzacją i migracją w aktualizacjach NECP na 2026 r. sprawiłoby, że krajowe cele w zakresie odnawialnych źródeł energii oraz plany inwestycji w sieć energetyczną byłyby bardziej solidne w obliczu zwiększonej niepewności demograficznej i technologicznej.
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