European funds and programmes
Background information
The budget of the European Union for the period 2014-2020
only represents about 1% of the EU-28 Gross National Income (GNI). That
is far to be sufficient to match with European ambitions. Nevertheless,
it plays a driving role in influencing budget priorities and leveraging
investments at national, regional and local levels.
The EU budget is closely linked to the five priorities of the EU 2020 strategy: employment; research and development; climate/energy; education; social inclusion and poverty reduction.
Comparing to the previous programming period (2007-2013), the European Union
increased the amount allocated to energy efficiency and renewable
energy projects to some EUR 45 billion, giving a signal that a shift
towards a low carbon economy is one of its top priorities. The most
important funding instruments that finance sustainable energy
investments (hard measures) are the European Structural and Investment Funds that are co-managed by the European Commission and Member States. The European Investment Bank
is also becoming more and more active in financing local energy
transition and climate projects.This funding could give a significant
boost to local energy transition.
The European Commission also announced that public money should be
spent in a more sustainable way. The EU budget is limited and will never
be sufficient if disbursed in the from of grants. The objective is to
progressively move from grants to revolving financing instruments
such as loans, guarantees and innovative financial instruments, in
particular for projects that are viable on the current market. Public
budget will be used as a seed money to trigger much bigger private
investments.
The EU funding opportunities for local sustainable energy projects in the programming period 2014-2020 are summarised here below.
What kind of activity are you searching funding for?
exchange of experience, transfer of knowledge, peer learning,
networking, organisation of events, preparation of energy and climate
strategies & actions plans, research & studies, implementation
of pilot and demonstration projects, development of innovative products,
services, initiatives, business models and financing schemes,
communication campaigns and involvement of stakeholders, etc.
trainings and education, reskilling qualified workforce,
up-scaling skills, recruitment of experts, development of training
programmes, etc.
preparation of investments, recruitment of new staff and
experts, market studies, feasibility studies, energy audits, preparation
of tendering procedures and contractual arrangements, structuring of
business plans, etc..
Hardware costs are excluded.
hard measures such as retrofitting of buildings, new
buildings, public lighting, production of renewable energy, district
heating and cooling, cogeneration, etc.
Some of the information on this page has been extracted from: Covenant of Mayors - Funding Instruments
