Energy Union Governance: The 3 musts for a new collaborative planning regime

Cities and regions call on decision-makers to include subnational governments in the design of national energy and climate policies

Six major local and regional authorities networks –  have released a joint statement on the governance of the EU’s Energy Union, as the issue is being widely discussed just days after the close of the official public consultation period. In their statement, the networks call upon the European Commission and national governments to intensify their work with local and regional actors in the design of future national energy and climate plans and thereby to move from a policy of “action by a few to action by all.” The paper points to the crucial role of local and regional governments in delivering energy policy and warns that failure to formally recognise this in the Energy Union puts both European and national climate targets at risk. The networks thus call on the European Commission to include a chapter dedicated to multi-level cooperation in the guidance documents on planning and reporting of national energy policies which it will provide to national governments.