For the European Union and its Member States to become more climate-friendly and promote the well-being of their citizens, the EU’s financial resources have to be spent towards consuming less energy and using resources more efficiently.
We have successfully campaigned against some of the worst EU funds spending decisions by Member States and are promoting a fundamental shift in how EU money contributes to the development of our continent and its people.
From Europe’s municipalities to Brussels corridors
With the help of our member groups, our work stretches from local to international level.
Our vision: a people’s budget
We want to believe in a brighter future, where Europe is reconnected to its people and values.
Ideas for a new economy
Individuals, communities and municipalities are already showcasing the potential of a new economy.
Our local economies website collects success stories of sustainable local development.
Where EU money falls short of its potential
Many investments financed with EU funding are bad for citizens and the environment. They are inconsistent with the EU’s 2020 and 2050 decarbonisation goals and hinder the transition to a low carbon economy in central and eastern Europe.
The problem is bigger than a few projects. European Union Member States in central and eastern Europe (CEE) misspend billions of EU funds that are destined to transform the carbon-intensive, inefficient energy systems of their countries.
For example, in CEE countries only 7 per cent of the 178 billion euros in European Regional Development and Cohesion Funds will be invested into renewables, energy efficiency and smart grids.
Transparency and participation in EU funds decision-making
The Cohesion Policy’s partnership principle prescribes the inclusion of local authorities and civil society in the delivery of EU funds. This, as research has shown, improves project quality, curbs potential corruption cases and brings tangible social and environmental benefits to communities.
In many member states however, public participation is reduced to a formal process (for instance limited to the so-called Monitoring Committees). Independent experts and affected communities have often very limited access to information and can not voice their opinions effectively.
LATEST UPDATES
In Slovakia, a shining example of EU funds for renewables and families
Blog entry | 11 December, 2018There is a sad joke in Slovakia that the country could become a museum for renewable energy sources (RES). Not because the Slovak physicist Aurel Stodola invented in 1928 the world’s oldest heat pump that still powers Geneva’s city hall, but because of its antiquated energy policy that lacks systematic support for renewables at the local and national levels.
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Eleventh hour for protected Kresna Gorge as Bulgaria presses on with destructive motorway
Blog entry | 28 November, 2018With construction advancing in Bulgaria’s Kresna gorge, discussion happening now at the Bern Convention in Strasbourg having taken on an increased sense of urgency.
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Lessons learned from Germany’s 20-year experiment in energy transformation
Blog entry | 19 November, 2018Germany pioneered broad support measures for renewable energy by the late 1990s. These measures, referred to as Energiewende or ‘energy transformation’, offer a valuable insight for other countries, which introduced support mechanisms for renewable energy later or have not done so yet.
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LATEST PUBLICATION
Position on the Multiannual Financial Framework
For nearly three decades, the EU Budget, and especially sectoral instruments such as the Cohesion Policy, has been a proven catalyst in the fight against climate change and the transition to a low-carbon energy system. By providing public investments in sectors like transport, energy and construction, which are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) can shape the EU’s response to challenges posed by climate change.
The next EU budget and its subsequent regulations come at a time when the climate imperative has never been more pressing. Although the Commission proposals on the future MFF showed renewed ambition, with higher earmarking of funds to combat climate change and reinforced links with the EU’s 2030 energy and climate targets, improvements are still needed in multiple areas, as outlined in the attached policy briefing.
