Brussels, 12/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 11 November, with the adoption of the report by Kathleen Van Brempt (S&D, Belgium) by 582 votes to 27 and 7 abstentions, the European Parliament gave its endorsement to the draft regulation aimed at creating a financial instrument for releasing €146 million of unused EU funds attributed to the European Energy Recovery Plan. The unspent funding will be directed to a new fund for funding projects aimed at renovating public and private buildings to improve their energy efficiency or switch to renewable energy, building renewables-based cogeneration installations and integrating them to the electricity grid, promoting clean solutions for urban public transport especially electric and hydrogen vehicles, and developing local infrastructure including efficient street lighting, electricity storage and smart metering and smart grids. The fund will above all be intended to help local and regional authorities to fund projects. A total of €146.34 million will be available on 1 January 2011 and should be attributed by 31 March 2014. (E.H./transl.jl)