ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the energy poverty as one specific aspect of high salience for at least some of the developing partners involved in the energy dialogues, and a topic that should be of some relevance for the EU if it desires to appear as a normative actor. In the EU-India energy dialogues, the issue of energy poverty is mentioned implicitly. The relevance of sustained growth comes up repeatedly. Energy security has been promoted as a new focus of the dialogues from the Indian side. This differentiation is crucial for the identification of the different types of political decision makers in the empirical analysis. The combination of observations at the level of discourse and policy outcomes enables us to identify the opportunist and the meaning launderer. If the EU considers itself a normative actor in terms of promoting sustainable development, it might want to consider pushing precisely those activities that face difficulties in taking off within the Indian national political economy.
