Ensuring that the planning, approval and construction of important cross-border infrastructure takes maximum account of the interests and competences of municipalities and their local authorities - a necessary prerequisite for the achievement of climate goals in all EU regions.
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
notes that the challenge with high and maximum voltages is to bring renewable electricity from offshore and onshore sites to regions with the greatest energy requirements in a cost-effective and efficient manner, and that in the case of low and medium-voltage electricity, the required infrastructure for a multitude of new, decentralised producers feeding electricity into the system must be created;
underlines the need to send an unequivocal political signal from the Commission to Member States, to the economy and the banking sector, and to partners across the globe, that the course of increasing the share of renewables in the energy mix of the future that has been embarked upon is irreversible and is a worthwhile area of private investment;
stresses that in order to achieve the Europe 2020 goals, there should further development of smart networks at local and regional level, as called for in earlier CoR opinions (CdR 160/2008 fin, CdR 8/2009 fin, CdR 244/2010 fin, CdR 312/2010 fin, CdR 7/2011 fin and CdR 104/2011 fin). End-user prices must, in connection with computer-based load management, be connected to production and demand so as to act as an incentive for energy efficiency and more effectively align decentralised energy production with decentralised energy consumption;
believes it should be examined whether, as a less intrusive tool, less detailed draft guidelines for the reference of national decision makers would not be more suitable. That way, the Commission would allow the Member States as broad a scope as possible for deciding on the concrete integration of existing structures. This concerns planning and authorisation authorities in the Member States – which may be structured along federal lines – as well as the existing regional groups from the third internal market package. In general, assigning tasks to existing, successful institutions should take priority over creating new structures.