Rethinking the right to property in the European low-carbon energy transition

This article analyses the friction between the right to property and the ever-accelerating transition to low-carbon energy systems in Europe and in European Union (EU) law. It addresses a gap in the existing legal scholarship by examining how the constitutional right to property has been interpreted and understood in the design of legislation and in the process leading up to the legislative measures that facilitate decarbonisation of the energy sector in Europe. The article suggests that the urgency of the low-carbon energy transition indirectly pushes for a narrower scope and interpretation of the right to property through legal instruments that are adopted to pursue decarbonisation.