Green light for the European Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund
The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have agreed upon the creation of a new European Fund for Investments in Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects. The fund shall be financed by the European Union up to 146 million euro, which is equivalent to the leftover of the European Energy Recovery Plan adopted in 2009.
Additional contributions will also be made by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the KFW bank group, who support the project. In all, this fund will cover several hundred million euro in investments. Local and regional authorities may, starting from 1 January 2011, file their applications with the EIB which will be the guardian of the fund.
Paul Magnette, the current President of the EU Energy Council is pleased with this agreement with the EU Parliament. " Development of projects involving energy efficiency and renewable energy is the way to address the challenges posed by issues relating to energy supply security, carbon emissions reduction and ever-increasing proportion of energy-related expenses for consumers. Given the reduced credit availability on the financial markets and budget crunch faced by several local authorities, this fund will facilitate the launching of concrete projects at the local level, which would not have been possible otherwise. "
Rapporteur Kathleen Van Brempt is glad that she succeeded in convincing the European Parliament over the importance of this fund. "Without the support of the Parliament and the Belgian Presidency, we would not have managed to redirect the funds towards local projects. I regularly hear of environmental projects that are put on hold for lack of means. We will hopefully be able to bring about a change in this trend. "
