Competitiveness and green transition need to go hand in hand, Green Deal Going Local working group stresses

The CoR's Green Deal Going Local working group held its last meeting of the current mandate on 5 December. Members took stock of the achievements of the working group and exchanged views with the European Commission on the next phase of the European Green Deal in the EU's new legislative term.

Since its creation in 2020, the Green Deal Going Local working group has been active in all policy areas linked with the European Green Deal – from energy transition to sustainable mobility, from climate ambition to sustainable agri-food sector, from zero pollution to circular economy – to bring in the voice of cities and regions and report on the challenges and opportunities linked to the implementation of Green Deal initiatives at local and regional level.  Working group members concluded that this work should continue in the CoR's next 5-year term of office that begins in February 2025.

With the new European Commission having started its new term of office last week, Green Deal Going Local working group members discussed with representatives from different EC services (DG COMP, DG ENV and DG ENER) on the next steps of the Green Deal. Speakers pointed out that the focus will now be on the implementation of the different legislative initiatives already adopted, and underlined that the green transition must be connected to the EU's economic competitiveness and citizens' wellbeing.

Meeting chair Kata TÜTTŐ (HU/PES), First Vice-Chair of the ENVE Commission and City councillor of Budapest, said: "In line with the core points of our Green Deal 2.0 report, in the new EU term of office green policies will continue playing a central role to secure EU territorial, economic and social cohesion and limit negative effect of climate and environmental crises on people's health and economic activities. The new European Commission confirmed that the EU will stay the course on the goals and targets set out in the European Green Deal, designed as our growth strategy and central to our new industrial policy, competitiveness and security. Our path towards climate neutrality will succeed only with a strong social dimension that embraces the needs of our communities, companies and territories".

The second debate focused on the role of EU funds in accelerating the green transition at local and regional level, with the presence of representatives from DG REGIO, DG BUDG and DG ECFIN. Over one third of the EU's budget and the NextGenerationEU funds has been spent on climate-related initiatives, with most of the funding coming from the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the common agricultural policy and the cohesion policy. Meanwhile the 10% target for EU funding supporting biodiversity has proven to be difficult to reach. 

Green Deal Going Local working group members warned against simplification leading to re-centralisation; they strongly advocated that the shared-management model, multi-level governance and the partnership principle remain the guiding principles of cohesion policy and of any future investment policy. They underlined the need  to mobilise more private investment, following the recommendations in the recent CoR opinion on the future of EU climate policy.

"The Green Deal is not only about climate and nature, it's imperative for the EU's industry, security, wellbeing. All sectors have their role to play. We need a systemic transformation, where we look at what are the most crucial elements that need to be accelerated in the implementation, covering all activities we can do in regions and cities", stressed the rapporteur Markku MARKKULA (FI/EPP), President of Helsinki Region.

•    Rewatch the meeting
•    Photo gallery (Flickr)