Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-05-05-Speech-2-320"
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"en.20090505.24.2-320"2
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"I am very glad that you put this question, because I am very proud of one of our achievements, and that is the Covenant of Mayors.
So, to summarise, I believe that we have created a framework for cities that share an ambition to develop sustainable models for their citizens, and that is the Covenant of Mayors. The Covenant of Mayors includes sympathisers like New York and Rochester, and has participants from other non-EU countries, so it offers a lot of knowledge through the office we operate.
As concerns financial support, we do not at this stage have any programme dedicated to energy efficiency, but we have the Structural Funds, we have an Intelligent Energy Europe programme and we have also the European Investment Bank. We are using all those instruments to support these initiatives. The European Investment Bank is very active in this process. However, at this stage it is not so much an issue of finance, but more about good projects and really dedicated policy from the cities.
That is my answer to your very important question. I believe that cities have every opportunity to lead the way towards a sustainable energy future.
In 2008 we supported the initiative from cities to have a Covenant of Mayors. This means that cities make a binding obligation to reduce CO2 by more than 20% by 2020. They develop sustainable energy action plans for this. They have also founded a Covenant of Mayors’ Office for coordination and promotion. We support these actions through the Joint Research Centre, to provide scientific background and technical support for the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the sustainable energy action plans. For smaller municipalities, the Commission negotiates with other national, regional and local administrations to ensure their support for the smaller cities.
An advanced system of good practice, the Benchmarks of Excellence, is also intended to be implemented this year.
We have also created a financial support facility through the European Investment Bank (EIB), in which we place the grants, and also use the EIB to target sustainable development in the cities. The EIB has already been involved in specific projects, such as with Barcelona, on which negotiations are quite advanced.
I know that the City of Cork has not yet signed this Covenant, so it is still up to the City of Cork to use this opportunity. It is a good way to really mobilise citizens behind these initiatives.
At the same time there are also other instruments for sustainable development, and the cohesion policy provides significant support to cities to implement sustainable energy policies and actions. In total, for the period 2007-2013, EUR 9 billion from cohesion policy funds will be directly invested in sustainable energy initiatives in the EU. The Southern and Eastern Operational Programme, which includes the City of Cork, will invest EUR 669 million in the region and contribute to reaching Lisbon growth and jobs objectives.
These cohesion funds will directly support sustainable energy projects in the region, and will help to mobilise further national investment. Funding may be used to stimulate energy efficiency and renewable energy production, the development of efficient energy management systems and the promotion of clean and sustainable public transport, particularly in urban areas.
The Operational Programme includes the ‘Gateway Challenge Fund’, which is based on an integrated sustainable development strategy for Cork.
Finally, the Regional Development Fund was recently changed to give all Member States the possibility to use regional funds for energy efficiency improvements and the integration of renewable energy into existing housing. This can be as much as 4% of the total Regional Fund allocation."@en1
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