Electricity prices have risen by 35% in the past year,
putting local and regional authorities in a very
difficult situation.
As inflation and high energy prices continue to
mark the political agenda in the European Union,
the European Committee of the Regions (CoR)
advocates for cities and regions, small businesses
and households to have direct access to EU
technical and financial support to tackle the
energy crisis, help vulnerable households and move
climate action forward. At the recent UN's COP27
climate talks,
the CoR led a coalition of mayors and global
networks
calling to empower subnational governments as to
accelerate climate action and resilience, taking
the floor at the
COP27 closing plenary
in Sharm-El-Sheikh.
During the 1st December
plenary
session, the members of the European Committee of the
Regions (CoR) discussed the consequences of the energy
crisis for European households with Czech Deputy Prime
Minister, Marian Jurečka, leading members of the
European Parliament and the Vice-President of the
European Investment Bank, Liliana Pavlova.
The President of the European Committee of the Regions, Vasco Alves Cordeiro, said: "
The energy crisis is harming the social cohesion of
our communities. Its impact has two dimensions: it
is not only about households and citizens, but also
about our local and regional administrations, which
are under great pressure to deliver and whose
budgets are overstretched. While EU leaders are
having very relevant discussions on overarching
measures to ensure the EU's energy security and
address the systemic issue of the energy market,
let us not forget the need for concrete actions to
relieve the pressure on people and also on local
and regional authorities. No mayor or president of
region can find replies alone. We need to act
together and we need all EU institutions on our
side, to give us the tools to provide support to
citizens."
Rafał Trzaskowski (PL/EPP), Chair of the
ENVE commission
of the
Green Deal Going Local
working group, said: "
In Warsaw, 10 percent of citizens are affected by
energy poverty and numbers are growing as we fail
to deliver concrete solutions more rapidly. Only 1
percent of buildings undergo renovation in Europe
annually, which is a heavy break to decreasing
energy bills. We need immediate responses,
including fast-tracking procedures for local and
regional authorities to have additional funds to
tackle the energy crisis locally. Much stronger
cooperation is needed between EU institutions with
higher involvement of cities and regions in EU
policymaking, in order to build synergies and move
the energy transition and climate agenda forward.
As COP27 failed to deliver higher climate ambition
from national governments, cities and regions are
taking over climate leadership. We are on the front
line of the energy and climate crisis, but we are
also in the vanguard of change."
Marian Jurečka, Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, said: "
Cities and regions have a key role to play in the
current energy crisis. As the elected
representatives closest to citizens, your efforts
are crucial to save vulnerable households and
business from falling into energy poverty. The
solution to avoid that inflation and high energy
prices turn into a massive economic and social
crisis is cooperation. The energy transformation is
also an opportunity for endangered coal regions but
an effective European Social Climate Fund must be
fully operational urgently. Europe cannot be left
without the voice of the cities and regions, as you
are the driving force for the roll-out of energy
communities. I welcome the hard work of the
European Committee of the Regions in solving the
energy crisis. Your cooperation with the Czech
Presidency has been exemplary."
Lilyana Pavlova, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, said:
“The current rise in energy prices, which is
particularly affecting households, is a clear
signal that we must invest even more and even
faster in the green transition to reduce our
dependence on fossil fuels. The EIB Group is
committed to supporting this transition through
its financial and advisory services, including
facilities targeted to the needs of cities and
regions. With our goal to support €1 trillion
in green investments by 2030 globally, the EIB
Group can make a crucial contribution to
REPowerEU, building on our long and solid track
record in supporting the EU’s energy sector."
With the European Commission is to present ideas to
reform electricity markets in the first quarter of
2023, the EU's assembly of cities and regions has the
called for local and regional authorities (LRAs) to be
at the heart of any adjustments, ensuring mandatory
consultation mechanisms as those foreseen in the Energy
Governance Regulation, through Multilevel Energy and
Climate Dialogues. The
CoR argues that Cohesion Funds for 2021-2027
must be preserved for investments in long-term energy
transition measures.
Background
Between 2019 and 2022, on average, the energy
expenditure share in households budget increased by
more than one-third and almost doubled in some
countries. Electricity prices have risen by 35% in the
past year (
Eurostat data September 2022
).
Eurostat estimates that about 35 million EU citizens
were unable to keep their homes adequately warm in 2020 . The energy crisis is being
exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, worsening already
difficult situations for households and SMEs
(State of the Energy Union 2022 report)
, which is substantially increasing energy
poverty rates.
On Wednesday, 30 November 2022, the European Committee
of the Regions and the European Economic and Social
Committee signed a new environmental policy that
includes a commitment to reducing their greenhouse-gas
emissions. The new environmental policy is available on
the
EESC website
and the
CoR website.
Under the coordination of the
Green Deal Going Local working group
, the CoR is monitoring the development of energy and
climate legislative proposals, to ensure that LRAs
effectively shape Green Deal legislation by
strengthening the cooperation with the Council, the
Parliament and the Commission.
Read our dedicated news portal here.
We deliver climate action: EU cities and
regions at COP27.
Contact:
David Crous
Tel. +32 470 881 037
david.crous@cor.europa.eu