Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) Mayors from across Europe have signed an open letter calling on EU leaders for “a bold and unified European response to the energy crisis exacerbated by the Russian aggression towards Ukraine.”
The message is timely as EU leaders will hold a key summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
Noting that, as representatives of the level of government closest to people, “we have been at the forefront of the health and energy crises, taking bold steps to reorganise services, reallocate budgets, and shield the most vulnerable groups of people through targeted social measures,” the mayors from across the Eurocities network claim that the skyrocketing energy prices, and inflationary pressure is now putting the provision of public services at risk.
With this in mind, the mayors call on European leaders to:
- Swiftly implement the emergency measures already agreed by EU energy ministers, and involve cities and regions in their implementation to bring down prices, helping citizens and companies
- Direct windfall taxes on energy companies towards poverty mitigation and acceleration of the energy transition in cities
- Ensure direct and speedy access for city authorities to EU emergency funding, and introduce a golden rule to the EU fiscal framework that does not consider long-term investments into green, digital, and social infrastructure to be debt
- Implement targeted measures to address energy poverty and protect the most vulnerable groups from adverse impacts related to the cost of living, such as one-stop shops operated in cities, which provide a crucial lever to fight energy poverty and get people on board in the energy transition
- Prioritise actions that drive demand reductions, thus saving energy, such as speed limits, decreased minimum temperatures and awareness-raising campaigns
The mayors of Florence, Ghent, Leipzig, and Warsaw, who represent the Eurocities network of more than 200 larger European cities, issued a statement on Wednesday, just ahead of the EU summit.
It reads, “As cities, we are taking the lead in encouraging behavioral changes across different sectors such as transport, public lighting, heating, and cooling, to reduce energy consumption and coordinate demand reduction efforts.”
However, in line with the points set out in their letter, the mayors suggest the need for greater coordination between the different levels of government to work together to respond to the current crisis.
In addition, they signal that the upcoming agreements on the Fit for 55 package and RePowerEU are key opportunities to go a step further to protect citizens, ensure the EU’s strategic autonomy and accelerate a sustainable and inclusive transition to a climate-neutral EU.
The summit later this week will be dominated by the war in Ukraine and also the ongoing energy crisis.
The two-day meeting will assess the state of energy markets and address the latest developments in Ukraine.
