Accueil / Newsletters / ACIDD - Newsletter English n°8 - January 2009
Committee of the Regions : Interview with Jean-Louis Joseph: “Local and regional actors assume key roles”
Jean-Louis Joseph, President of FEDARENE and Rapporteur for the Committee of the Regions comments on the European Commission’s Energy Package. He responds to the reframing of the European directive on the energy performance of buildings and to the EU’s Second Strategic Energy Review.
 |
So far as the Committee of the Regions and the European Commission are concerned, it is vital to develop a long-term European energy policy whose scope takes into account all the various facets concerned with energy, especially those that involve social and environmental dimensions. Supply security is a major theme which must take on board the fact that member states face different situations when it comes to the security of supply. These differences, which exist for a number of reasons including historical ones, call for coordinated action at a European level with a view to reducing the imbalances, tightening the links between the partners and reducing the risks to the EU as a whole. Even so, the Committee of the Regions also considers it vital to involve the territories: local and regional actors assume key roles as partners in the definition, planning and successful implementation of Europe’s energy policy.
What are your recommendations in terms of energy efficiency, faced with current European policy?
Energy efficiency is not only at the heart of the 3X20 objectives, but also assumes a vital role in supply security, since a drop in consumption leads directly to a reduction in our energy reliance. Nevertheless, we have to face the fact that energy efficiency is the only one of the three 3X20 objectives not to have been translated into a binding legislative instrument yet.
Going by projections presented as an annexe to the Second Strategic Energy Review, the EU Commission is relying in part on a phenomenon that is unconnected with its action – the rise in the price of oil – to achieve its goals of 20 per cent energy efficiency. For me, within the context of the Opinion we are currently preparing, this shows a certain lack of political will and under-investment in the energy efficiency sector. This kind of attitude is all the more regrettable given that the benefits which are expected to accrue from investing in energy efficiency make it a powerful tool for economic regeneration and job creation – both essential in the current crisis. The Opinion of the Committee of the Regions expresses a general anxiety about the complete absence of the transport sector in the Second Strategic Energy Review. This is a sector which alone is responsible for more than 30 per cent of the EU’s final energy consumption. Moreover, transport is directly impacted by supply security issues since it relies largely on oil imports. We really should be remedying this weakness. The Committee is calling on the European Commission to publish without delay a Communication on Supply Security and Energy Efficiency in the Transport Sector to supplement the Second Strategic Energy Review. As for the Communication on Financing Low Carbon Technologies required by the Commission, the Committee is calling for one third of the revenues in question (revenues generated within the framework of the revision of the Emissions Trading directive) to be devoted to local and regional sustainable energy initiatives.
Has the Committee assessed the scale of the role of ICTs when it comes to energy efficiency?
The Committee expressed itself on this subject last November while preparing an Opinion on the topic “Meeting the challenge of energy efficiency with the help of information and communication technologies”. To be able to achieve the ambitious targets set for 2020, the Committee of the Regions reckons we need to ensure that we have enough solutions based on ICTs, and also to ensure that these solutions can be exploited to their maximum. ICTs play an important part in the implementation of the EU’s strategy on sustainable development. These technologies exert a positive influence on sustainable development by means of technical and commercial innovations and, thanks to highly intelligent and clean processes, they also foster structural evolution in the way natural resources are exploited. Moreover, ICTs, which improve energy efficiency, harbour a huge potential in terms of bolstering Europe’s competitiveness and the economic opportunities offered to firms at a local and regional level. I am a representative of my locality, so I like extolling the fact that local authorities and the regions have a number of tools adapted to allow them to fully exploit the opportunities presented by ICTs for the management of climate change. Of particular relevance here are their responsibilities and competences in the domain of spatial planning, energy supply, civil engineering and building, and traffic management.
You are the elected representative of a small rural municipality in the south of France – are your concerns echoed in the EU’s current policies on energy efficiency?
When it comes to energy efficiency, the role of regional and local authorities is key; throughout the EU, those which deal day-in, day-out with matters of energy have to get their points of view across and make their voices heard. The Committee of the Regions affirmed its support for these authorities through its Covenant of Mayors, which emphasises the importance of including the local and regional authorities at large as stakeholders in the Covenant, not just the mayors.
The Committee welcomed the announcement of a new financing initiative for the promotion of sustainable energy, though it would need to devote a substantial portion of its means to financing projects at regional and local levels. An initiative such as this should be as ambitious as the EU’s energy policies, and up to the task of maintaining Europe’s lead in sustainable energy and green technologies. Here, regional and local energy agencies across the EU have a crucial role to play. They are strategic partners in Europe’s energy policies, and their activities should receive more support and recognition from the EU. As for investment, the transformation of Europe’s energy system towards decentralisation requires considerable funding, in other words employment, consultation with local and regional actors, and more recognition for the role they play in matters of energy policy.