President Markkula sets out plans to engage local governments in Europe’s Energy Union

Several CoR members took part in yesterday's debate throwing support behind the objectives of the Energy Union. But they also asked Commissioner Šefčovič to ensure and set out ways to involve regions and cities in creating the EU's Energy Union. Only by taking into account the territorial dimension of the Energy Union was it possible to reduce energy import dependency, strengthen internal services and tackle energy poverty. CoR President Markku Markkula said: "We all want energy security and efficiency. We are all committed to cutting reducing our energy import dependency, boosting innovation and creating a low-carbon Europe. The European Commission acknowledges that creating the Energy Union needs regions and cities but the question is how".

The recently unveiled €315bn EU Investment Plan could significantly help this process and the CoR expressed its readiness to work closely with the Commission and continuously review the Energy package's impact on public services and communities, whilst looking into new opportunities for sustainable jobs and new business opportunities in particular for SMEs.

The CoR President also pointed to EU plans to create an energy profile of each member state to determine and support national as well as regional and local needs. Such an oversight would allow EU energy policy to be assessed and reviewed but which must take into account the territorial dimension, "This would not only allow a better programming of EU policies but also help cities and regions to better plan their own public policies and investments in energy projects."

President Markkula finally called for stepping up efforts to improve communication on the Energy Union locally: "The EU needs to reach out to communities, businesses and the energy sector to demonstrate and show-case what we hope for and what has been achieved. Local and regional governments couldn't be better placed to step-up to this task. We can also take this opportunity to explain to our cities and regions what EU money is available through Structural and Investment Funds, Horizon 2020 and the Connecting Europe Facility."

Background information

-              CoR plenary agenda
-              High resolution photos
-              CoR draft opinion on the Energy
-              CoR President speech