On the eve of the second interinstitutional trialogue on the draft regulation on energy union governance, due to take place on Thursday 26 April, the Covenant of Mayors, and network associations (CEMR, EUROCITIES, Climate Alliance, Energy Cities, EUROCITIES and ICLEI) which represent thousands of local governments throughout the EU called on member states to support the European Parliament proposals making it mandatory to establish multi-level climate and energy dialogue platforms, with the inclusion of the local level as well as the national.
“The governance regulation proposal, if correctly negotiated, has the potential to ensure the member states plan and report on climate and energy after 2020 and are made accountable, rather than being a rubber-stamping exercise. Cities and regions want to be part of this planning process, and considering that 75% of the EU’s populations lives in urban areas, if member states are unwilling to engage in a permanent dialogue, it’s unlikely that the planning and actions will be fit for purpose”, warned Daniël Termont, president of EUROCITIES, mayor of Ghent and a member of the Board of the Covenant of Mayors.
Member States should include towns and regions in the preparation and implementation of national plans to reach EU energy and climate goals, for the 2021-2030 period, argued Juan Espadas, Mayor of Seville and CEMR spokesperson on climate and energy, and also a member of the Board of the Covenant of Mayors.
Towns and regions must be included in the multilevel climate and energy dialogue, so that local government can be actively engaged in managing the energy transition in member states on a regular basis, Espadas said.
He urged European legislators to include provisions obliging member states to negotiate with the subnational governments to determine the ways to achieve the national energy efficiency targets. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)