Abstract
The implementation of the European Union's European Green Deal faces significant political and socio-economic hurdles in carbon-intensive regions across Central and Eastern Europe. This article investigates the political economy of the just energy transition in Silesia, Poland—the largest coal-mining region in the European Union. Utilizing a rigorous qualitative process-tracing design based on 36 semi-structured interviews with municipal officials, trade union leaders, national policy-makers, and civil society actors, alongside extensive policy document analysis, we trace the causal mechanisms mediating top-down EU decarbonization mandates and local governance outcomes between 2018 and 2023. We identify a three-stage causal mechanism: institutional shock from European climate mandates, strategic coalition realignments among municipal elites and union leadership, and the emergence of compensatory local governance frameworks. The findings demonstrate that local political elites in Silesia have shifted from ideological veto-playing to strategic rent-seeking, leveraging Territorial Just Transition Plans to secure developmental rents while mitigating labor displacement. However, asymmetric municipal capacity and persistent path dependency create divergent transition trajectories across Silesian sub-regions. By highlighting the micro-foundations of political bargaining in coal-dependent communities, this study contributes to the literature on multi-level governance, energy transitions, and political economy in post-communist states.
