Renewables, taxes and competitive markets: the role of energy policies on the EU’s sustainable energy consumption

In recent years, the European Union has made sustainable consumption and production a political priority, to address economic and social development within the capacity of the ecosystem. To this end, it has put in place several actions related to resource efficiency, energy taxation and the promotion of renewable energies. This has been positive in terms of production, but less progress has been achieved in consumption. Greater understanding of the factors that influence sustainable energy consumption is particularly important. This paper investigates the effects of energy demand policies (energy taxes) and energy supply policies (renewable energies development, competitive energy markets and eco-innovation) on sustainable energy consumption in the EU-28 from 2008 to 2019. This research employs a panel data model to investigate the study’s hypotheses. Our results show that energy tax policies and clean energy have reduced energy intensity. However, electricity prices have been the greatest determinant in reducing total energy consumption. In light of its findings, this paper makes recommendations for several crucial measures for sustainable energy consumption to policymakers. Graphical abstract