News

4 May 2010

European Commission recognizes the European Energy Award® (eea) as an effective tool for the Sustainable Energy Action Plan of the Covenant of Mayors

Following the second Covenant of Mayors ceremony which took place on 4th May 2010 at the European Parliament in Brussels, a letter of recognition was handed over from Mr Roman Doubrava, DG Energy to a delegation of members from the Forum European Energy Award and mayors from eea cities that signed up to the Covenant of Mayors on that day.

In the letter, the Commission praised the practicality of the quality management system and the professional certification standards. The European Commission stated its intention to recognize the steps taken by the eea in connection with a CO2 balance emission inventory as a joint package to meet the requirements for the Covenant of Mayors' Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP). This will encourage eea cities to sign up to the Covenant of Mayors, to reduce CO2 emissions, as well as the time and effort which is required to set up an SEAP.

Mr Heimo Bürbaumer, board member of the Forum European Energy Award expressed his thanks to the Commission and emphasized that the harmonisation of the eea to SEAP requirements is currently underway and that all adjustment steps are closely communicated with DG Energy and the Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC). With last year's increase to 750 participating eea communities across Europe, he pointed out the huge potential of this strategic partnership.

Mr Roger Dubach from the Swiss Mission to the EU in Brussels expressed his thanks on behalf of Mr Walter Steinmann, President of the Forum European Energy Award. In addition, Mr Dubach announced that in the future, he will act as an 'eea ambassador' based in Brussels and in this role will help to introduce the eea to new countries.

Further information:

Forum European Energy Award e.V.
c/o Brandes Energie AG
Oetenbachgasse 1
8001 Zurich
Tel 0041 44 213 10 22
Fax 0041 44 213 10 25
maren.kornmann@european-energy-award.org

INFO
The Covenant of Mayors (CoM) was set up in 2008 as an initiative by the European Commission.
With their entry to the scheme, the signatories commit themselves to a reduction of at least 20% in their municipality's CO2 emissions by 2020, as stipulated in the EU's climate protection targets, to draw up a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) with a CO2 balance, and to submit regular progress reports. More than 1700 European municipalities have signed up to the Covenant so far.

6 November 2009, Paris

General Meeting of the European Energy Award e.V. Forum

European Commission recognizes the European Energy Award® as an effective instrument for the Covenant of Mayors

European Energy Award®Gold communities commended for their outstanding success

Almost 40 representatives from five European countries attended the General Meeting of the European Energy Award e.V. Forum on 5 November 2009 in Paris. ADEME, the French environment and energy management agency, represents the interests of the European Energy Award® in France and is responsible for its successful implementation nationwide. Host Jacques Ravaillaut, Director of the Regional Actions department at ADEME, stressed the agency's enormous interest in making the eea a success in France and, in this context, emphasized the importance of an intensive exchange of ideas with other participating countries.

Cornelia Brandes, Head of the Forum's international office, presented figures reflecting the association's success: at the end of December 2008, 581 municipalities in ten European countries were already working with the European Energy Award®. Its enormous success has also been noted at European Commission level. Following intensive talks, it was agreed that the Forum should work closely with the European Commission Covenant of Mayors initiative. In the course of the General Meeting, Board member Armand Dütz read out the letter of recognition received from the European Commission. Above all, the Commission praised the practicality of the quality management system and the professional certification standards. The European Commission stated its intention to recognize the steps taken by the eea in connection with the CO2 balance as the progress reports required for the Sustainable Energy Action Plan stipulated by the Covenant. This will make entry to the Covenant of Mayors considerably easier for eea municipalities and reduce the time and effort involved to a minimum. Close cooperation and coordination with the EU initiative was welcomed, particularly by the representatives of the communities present, as a sensible step towards harmonization of activities in Europe.

To underline the importance of the role played by the municipalities in European climate and energy policy, the European Energy Award e.V. Forum presented supplementary awards to a number of municipalities successful in the European Energy Award®Gold Audit in 2009. Representatives of the municipalities of Luzern (Switzerland), Wolfurt (Austria) and Münster (Germany) received these from Adi Gross, the Forum's Vice-President.

Gross singled out Luzern for its outstanding commitment to the eea programme: Luzern city councillor Ursula Stämmer-Horst is a member of the European Forum Board and plays an active role in the related national association, Energiestadt. She and fellow city councillor Kurt Bieder jointly accepted the Forum's commendation of the town's efforts together with the European Energy Award®Gold Label.

The municipality of Wolfurt, with 8000 inhabitants, is the first and only community in Austria that has not only committed itself to binding energy-saving targets by joining the Covenant of Mayors but also achieved European Energy Award®Gold standards. Ex-mayor Erwin Mohr was delighted to receive the honour and expressed his deep gratitude to the Forum.

Thomas Paal, head of environmental issues for the city of Münster, took the prize for the best eea municipality in Germany. This year's re-certification with the European Energy Award®Gold underscores the city's long-term and far-reaching commitment to sustainable energy policy. "Without the extremely hard work and effort of the municipalities, it would be impossible to implement the EU's climate protection targets by 2020. With the European Energy Award, almost 600 communities in Europe are making an enormous contribution to achieving this goal," summed up Armand Dütz at the end of the prize-giving ceremony.

Further information from:

Forum European Energy Award e.V.
c/o Brandes Energie AG
Oetenbachgasse 1
8001 Zurich
Tel 0041 44 213 10 22
Fax 0041 44 213 10 25
maren.kornmann(at)european-energy-award.org

INFO
The Covenant of Mayors (CoM) was set up last year as a European Commission initiative. With their entry to the scheme, the signatories commit themselves to a reduction of at least 20% in their municipality's CO2 emissions by 2020, as stipulated in the EU's climate protection targets, to draw up a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) with a CO2 balance, and to submit regular progress reports. More than 900 European municipalities have signed up to the Covenant since the beginning of the year.

29th, May 2009
The first Newsletter 2009 has been published. You can download the PDF-File here.

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