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In the EU, climate policy-making takes place in a complex environment, where multiple climate and energy policy instruments co-exist and interact together. Interactions between different climate and energy instruments can affect - positively or negatively - the achievement of the climate targets. However, the performance of instruments is often evaluated without taking into account those interactions and, therefore, the interactions are often overlooked. The review of the academic literature suggests that the strong focus has been devoted to the interactions between the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), the EU’s flagship climate policy, and different renewable energy support scheme. The lesser focus in the literature has been dedicated to understanding the interactions between the ETS and various energy efficiency measures. According to the European Commission, one of the most effective instruments to promote energy efficiency is the Ecodesign Directive that sets Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for energy-related products. Thus, this research aims to understand how the Ecodesign Directive interacts with the EU ETS and how the synergies between the instruments can be enhanced and overlaps can be mitigated. The research examines the interaction between the two instruments at the policy instrument level, employing a qualitative evaluation approach. The context in which both instruments operate as well as stakeholders’ perspectives towards interactions are examined, as they can determine whether interactions are positive or negative. The research highlights that both instruments lead to a reduction of GHG emissions in the energy sector, and if the reduction of the emissions achieved by the Ecodesign Directive (and other energy efficiency measures) is not anticipated in the cap of the ETS, it will have a negative impact on the price of the allowances. The policy implications to reduce the potential negative impact on the price of allowances are further presen

Household energy efficiency policy in Germany gets more and more differentiated since an increasing number of policy instruments targeting various fields of application are imple-mented and proposed by policymakers. Therefore, overlaps between such policy instruments become more likely. On the one hand, positive overlaps may allow realising synergies like an increased effectiveness or reduced costs stemming from a combination of policy instruments. However, the probability of negative overlaps and, thus, unintended outcomes like a lower effectiveness or additional costs related to a combination of policy instruments may grow on the other hand. This thesis considers selected policy instruments on domestic cold appliance energy efficiency that have been implemented in Germany. In a first step, the functioning of individual policy instruments is investigated. Based on that, interactions within combinations of the selected policy instruments are explored. This is done by reviewing relevant literature and policy evaluation studies, conducting expert interviews as well as applying a framework for forming views on interactions as suggested by Boonekamp (2005). The findings show that the EU energy label sets the framework for domestic cold appliance energy efficiency in Germany. Moreover, rebate programmes, information campaigns and minimum energy efficiency standards respective voluntary commitments are also found to be effective. Less successful policy instruments in improving domestic cold appliance energy effi-ciency are found to be cooperative procurement as a stand-alone instrument and a green tax. Furthermore, it is argued that most combinations of the investigated policy instruments have a reinforcing relationship. Based on the findings it is concluded that interactions between policy instruments on house-hold energy efficiency are still relatively unexplored. Further research in this area would facili-tate considering the issue of interactions between policy instru