Carbon pricing, decarbonisation and digitalisation: the future of and the challenges to the EU climate and energy policy

Carbon pricing is of crucial importance for decarbonisation and provides a solid economic framework for unifying the EU climate and energy policy strategy. The EU ETS is the main instrument for this purpose as it leads to a unique carbon price all over Europe. Given the difficulties it has encountered over the years, however, a set of additional ‘fragmented’ policies are also needed for decarbonisation. Among these, particular attention should be devoted to digitalisation as a promising tool that can radically innovate both the climate and the energy sectors in a more sustainable direction.