Speech: Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič: Let's work together for better cities

Speech by Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, in charge of Energy Union, on the occasion of the High-Level Event on the Urban Agenda for Europe.

My colleague, Commissioner Crețu, President Markkula;dear Corina, and Markku;

Mayors, local policymakers, and local stakeholders;

It's a real pleasure to be here, at this High-Level Event on the European Urban Agenda, surrounded by so many Europeans who are all here for the same reason: because we strongly believe in the ability of local action to transform reality, and bring change all across Europe and around the world.

Corina and Markku already highlighted the importance of cities and local authorities across different European policy areas. Indeed, mayors and city councils are currently facing multiple highly complex challenges. They have to fight air pollution and address poverty; they have to ensure decent housing and ensure proper integration of migrants and refugees. In order to do all that and to do it successfully, they join forces with Member States and with the European Commission, which has been assisting local authorities through a range of means which I will describe in a moment.

Such cooperation across decision-making levels (local, national, and European) is critical for ensuring that our policies reinforce each other, rather than work in parallel, or worse in opposite directions. That is what the Urban Partnerships, launched under the Dutch Presidency, are all about. As Corina mentioned, these Partnerships, which work on very concrete, practical issues, ensure that the urban dimension is strengthened across EU i policies.

Your presence here today manifests how much of the progress is already transforming partnerships from an idea into reality. Four partnerships are up and running, in the areas I just mentioned (air pollution, poverty, housing and migration & refugees). Four more are being set up, in areas where local actors also have a key role to play:

• - 

  the circular economy,
• - 

  the digital Transition,
• - 

  urban mobility
• - 

  and the jobs and skills agenda.

Let me add another area in which cities and regions can play a crucial role, and in which many are playing a crucial role already: the implementation of the Energy Union, the long-term strategy through which we are making the transition to a low-carbon economy and society.

Moving forward on the Energy Union agenda is more timely than ever before, as we are witnessing a real momentum and appetite to act now with high ambition. This is thanks to the historic Paris Agreement which is about to enter into force, faster than anyone could have ever expected.

But this momentum is also due to the strong commitment of non-state actors, of civil society, social partners, companies, and of cities and regions. All over Europe, cities are becoming smarter and more sustainable. There are countless examples:

• - 

  Renovating buildings, making them more energy efficient and turning them into micro power plants.
• - 

  Making the energy transition more inclusive and addressing energy poverty by investing in energy efficient social housing, Extensively deploying renewable energy technologies and developing smarter grids.
• - 

  Promoting modern low emission mobility solutions in city centers (and beyond);
• - 

  serving as living laboratories, where disruptive and innovative technologies can develop through strong engagement in innovation clusters.

Believe me, I could continue this list all day long, citing examples from Gdynia in Poland, through Santander in Spain, to Copenhagen, Rotterdam, The Hague; Hauts de France or the Thessaloniki region.

I am deeply convinced that most of the actions for reaching low-carbon economy and society are in the hands of mayors, city councils, and of course citizens themselves. That is the essence of taking local ownership. But I am equally convinced that we, from the European Commission, can do more, and should do more to help you realise these ambitions.

That is why I am so glad to launch today, together with Corina and Markku, the One Stop Shop for cities: a brand new instrument that can help you better realise your urban energy-transition ambitions.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The One Stop Shop is the result of long months of work across numerous Commission services (not less than 15 services were involved), working together, often for the first time. It was quite a complex exercise, breaking traditional silos in order to harmonise our programmes and present one single integrated instrument. I would like to thank the many colleagues who contributed to this work and I would especially like to invite you to make use of this new instrument.

The added value of having a single entry point is common sense. It was a recurrent request in the contributions we received last year during the public consultation on the Urban Agenda. It was also explicity expressed by mayors and local leaders throughout the many conversations my team and I held with them.

How can it serve you?

On the new Europa website there is now, as of today, a dedicated section for 'Cities', which aggregates all information that matters for cities:

• - 

  all city-related European legislative initiatives and strategies;
• - 

  all financing instruments that could help cities to become smarter and more sustainable, such as Horizon 2020, the Structural Funds or the Juncker Investment Plan, which we are currently extending and beefing up; at the same time, you will also be guided towards advice supporting cities in preparing their projects, along with studies, databases, and concrete project examples. This information is, as a general rule, grouped along specific policy areas, for instance air quality, climate adaptation, energy transition, sustainable urban mobility.
• - 

  and - finally - all city-related support initiatives or awards, such as, to give one example, the Green Capital Award.

In the One Stop Shop we bring all this information together with one main objective: to make sure that urban actors and the general public can find the relevant information with a minimal effort.

You may be an environmental policy officer in a city council and you want to find out the latest on the Commission's air pollution strategy.

Or a journalist who has heard about your national government joining the ‘Urban Agenda for the EU' and you want to know what it's about…

Or a city planner, wanting to develop an ambitious urban mobility project and looking for financial resources…

You will now have one single entry point.

Of course, bringing all this information together in one place is only the first step. The next challenge is to simplify and harmonise the instruments that are now often too fragmented. In the coming months, we will work to enrich it with more information on other EU policies relevant for cities, and to make our instruments more coherent and effective.

For this, we are counting on your input, your comments, and your suggestions. Based on your experience, we will improve the One Stop Shop so that it will address the real needs of Europe's cities - your needs.

Before I conclude, let me briefly say a couple of words on another new initative in which the European Commission is also actively engaged to to assist cities, also cities outside Europe.

One of the lessons learned from the Paris Agreement is that Mayors and local authorities can indeed be a very influential voice at the global level if they join forces, if they work together, if they speak with one voice.

With this goal in mind, we worked hard to bring the two leading city initiatives on climate change - the Covenant of Mayors and the Compact of Mayors - closer together, and to eventually merge them into one. As a result, in June - hardly six months after Paris - we could announce the establishment of the Global Covenant of Mayors, as a single coalition of, and led by Mayors and regional leaders.

Such a global coalition of cities is extremely important for a range of reasons:

• - 

  First, because a Global Agreement such as the Paris Agreement needs a global response from non-state actors, just like the UNFCCC needs a credible, reliable non-state interlocutor; the Global Covenant can play that role.
• - 

  Second, because cities make considerable contributions to the climate action agenda; very often cities set more ambitious targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions than their countries. The same goes for adaptation and cities want to make these contributions visible and transparent, also at the international level. A single global coalition that can aggregate data can play a very useful role in that regard even when it comes to facilitating investments in cities that want to become smarter or more sustainable
• - 

  Thirdly, because cities and regions can inspire each other, and learn from each other's best practices. Not just at the European level, also at the global level. There too, the Global Covenant of Mayors has real added value.
• - 

  Fourthly, because a single coalition makes - and should make - life easier for cities. We got many positive reactions from mayors who told us: ‘fortunately, we no longer have to choose between the EU Covenant and the Compact; we don't have to report to two coalitions'. Indeed, I think city administrations have other things to do than engage in double reporting.
• - 

  Last but not least, it is key to convince cities that are not yet part, to become part, so that there is sufficient pressure on national governments to move quickly on implementing the Paris Agreement's provisions.

So as you can see, a lot is already happening, both within Europe - as illustrated by the One Stop Shop - and at the global level - as illustrated by the Global Covenant of Mayors, which will be operational as of January 2017.

I leave you with my personal commitment to continue working on this agenda, with Corina, with Markku, with Jyrki, with many other commissioners, and of course with all of you. I hope to meet with many of you along the second Energy Union Tour which I will launch next year, and in which the local dimension will figure prominently.

From here I'm inviting you all: 'Let's work together for better cities'.

SPEECH/16/3429