"Intervention from the audience on energy, climate change and environment".

  • As the programming phase for the 2014-2020 cohesion policy is now behind us, we see that Member States and regions have emphasized sustainable growth in their programmes and have allocated a significantly larger share of the budget than in the previous period to priorities related to energy, climate change and environment. These areas are prioritized in the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSAR) as well. Since these themes absolutely require coordinated transnational action, the EUSAR is a key instrument (via its Action groups) to operationalise coordinated approaches and investment (and to network good practice)
  • Cohesion Policy goes beyond funding and offers a strategic and integrated place-based approach. The Commission supports Member States, regions and cities in the uptake of the funds by providing technical assistance or capacity-building (e.g. through networks on energy and on environment). But this needs networking to share good practice, and to discuss/facilitate common responses to common problems. The Macro-Regional Strategies can play an important role, by further promoting sustainable growth, including through exchange of knowledge and experiences.
  • We are now in full implementation mode and we need good projects to deliver our policy and reach the results on the ground in all European regions. This is where the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region and its Action Groups can have a strong role, especially in connecting ideas and avoiding a fragmented approach. I see an enormous potential in platforms and clusters in sustainable growth, which could pool knowledge and monitoring capacities (on energy, climate, risks and environment), coordinate research activities and jointly develop solutions and policy responses.
  • More specifically, and to note as overall background:
  • 40 billion EUR goes to supporting the low-carbon economy. This is more than double the amount for the 2007-2013 period. It includes investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, which can help to make the Alpine region a model region for the low-carbon economy (Action 9 of EUSAR).
  • 35 billion EUR goes to environmental protection and resource efficiency, including investments in water and waste management, increased support for biodiversity and other areas. These investments can contribute to protecting natural resources in the Alps (Action 6 of EUSAR) and to developing green infrastructure to increase the ecological connectivity of the region (Action 7 of EUSAR).
  • 8 billionEUR goes to climate change adaptation and risk prevention. This is the largest EU funding source to protect Europe against natural disasters and strengthen the resilience against the impact of climate change. The investments can also support regions to develop a comprehensive disaster risk management policy, which is a priority for the Alpine region where the consequence of climate change – such as melting glaciers – are very visible (Action 8 of EUSAR).