COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Regional Policy contributing to sustainable growth in Europe 2020
Date: 2011-01-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU policy, common strategy, economic and social cohesion, environmental protection, regional policy, report, sustainable development

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 26.1.2011 
SEC(2011) 92 final 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

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Regional Policy contributing to sustainable growth in Europe 2020 

COM(2011) 17 

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COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

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Regional Policy contributing to sustainable growth in Europe 2020 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

This  Staff  Working  Document  (SWD)  provides  a  detailed  complement  to  the  narrative  and 
proposals made in the Communication on "Regional Policy contributing to sustainable growth 
in  Europe  2020"1.  It  is  intended  to  support  the  authorities  and  any  practitioner  involved  in 
Regional Policy (RP) with additional analysis and practical ways forward as well as a range of 
good  practice  examples  along  the  priorities  highlighted  in  the  Communication.  It  will 
concretely  help  regional  actors  to  deliver  on  sustainable  growth  for  regional  development 
through the current RP while setting the regions on track towards the objectives of the new 
"Europe 2020" strategy2. 

The sustainable growth priority of Europe 2020 underlines the imperative need to act on: 

–  combating climate change, strengthening our economies' resilience to climate risks and our 

capacity for disaster prevention and response;  

–  clean and efficient energy, reminding that meeting the EU objective of 20% of renewable 
energies  sourcing  could  create  more  than  600.000  jobs  and  adding  the  20%  target  on 
energy efficiency could mean well over one million new jobs in the EU.  

–  competitiveness, calling on the EU to maintain its lead in the market for green technologies 

while removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures 

Sustainable growth is both a major challenge and an opportunity for all Member States and 
regions3  in  the  EU.  A  more  competitive  and  sustainable  economy,  based  on  combating 
climate change, clean energy and resource efficiency,  is  a  way of boosting jobs  and  market 
opportunities which can help the EU economies out of the financial crisis, while preventing 
environmental  degradation  and  protecting  biodiversity.  This  should  underpin  all  economic, 
social and territorial cohesion efforts. 

This Working Document stresses the role of RP, as an essential part of Cohesion Policy (CP), 
in  delivering  the  second  pillar  of  the  "Europe  2020"  strategy  on  "sustainable  growth  ", 
especially in its contribution to the flagship initiative on a "resource efficient Europe". It also 
draws on the recently adopted Fifth Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion4, in 
particular its section on 'enhancing environmental sustainability'. 

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COM(2011) 17 
COM(2010)2020 
The Committee of Regions has adopted a number of Opinions related to sustainable growth, underlining 
the  role  of  local  and  regional  authorities  in  this  agenda,  as  well  as  the  challenges  and  opportunities: 
http://portal.cor.europa.eu/europe2020/Pages/CoREurope2020RelatedOpinions.aspx 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/official/reports/cohesion5/index_en.cfm 

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It underlines the opportunity to further mainstream the principles of sustainable development 
(SD)  in  the  day-to-day  operation  of  the  RP  programmes  to  maximise  their  impact  on  the 
sustainability of the EU regions. The EU Sustainable Development Strategy progress review5 
underlines  the  fact  that  SD  goals  and  principles  should  be  further  integrated  into  regional 
development. Local and regional authorities (LRAs) are often the centre of actions to support 
sustainability  embracing  their  role  in  land  use  planning,  public  transport,  environmental 
infrastructure, education, health, training and social services. Hence, RP has a responsibility 
to engage with the LRAs in fostering the sustainability of their territories and societies in the 
context  of  the  strategies  and  programmes  of  RP.  The  Green  Paper  on  Territorial  Cohesion6 
further  underlines  the  importance  of  SD  to  strengthen  territorial  cohesion.  These  activities 
underline the environmental and economic pillars of SD7 while highlighting the essential links 
to the social dimension. 

In the next financial period, 2014-2020, the Commission will propose a closer alignment of 
regional funds with the priorities of the Europe 2020 strategy than is required by the current 
regulations, as underlined in the EU Budget review8 and the Conclusions9 of the Fifth Report 
on  Economic,  Social  and  Territorial  Cohesion.  However,  in  the  current  period  there  is  still 
room  for  LRAs  to  deploy  existing  resources  more  effectively.  While  the  Operational 
Programmes (OPs) for the current financial period are already set, there is scope to reconsider 
project priorities and launch new projects within the OPs. 

2.  CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES 

The 'Europe 2020' strategy has set a new overarching focus on 'resource efficiency' including 
the preservation of natural resources and biodiversity. The role of the Structural and Cohesion 
Funds is particularly underlined in this flagship initiative on a 'Resource efficient Europe'10.  

In  addition,  since  2006  with  the  adoption  of  the  Regulations  on  CP  and  the  related 
Community  Strategic  Guidelines,  a  number  of  other  key  policy  developments  and  socio-
economic  evolutions,  not  least  the  economic  crises,  have  profoundly  changed  the  regional 
development framework. 

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COM(2009) 400 final 
COM(2008) 616 final 
The  Brundtland  Commission  (World  Commission  Declaration  on  Environment  and  Development, 
1987)  defined  SD  as  meeting  the  needs  of  current  generations  without  compromising  the  ability  of 
future generations to meet their own needs. This entails preserving enough economic, human, social and 
natural capital for production and direct consumption to ensure that future generations can meet their 
own needs 
COM(2010) 700 final 
COM(2010) 642 final; page 3: "The EU budget review outlined a new strategic programming approach 
for cohesion policy with a view to closer integration of EU policies to deliver the Europe 2020 Strategy 
and the Integrated Guidelines" 
In this respect, see the 'Opinion of the committee of the regions on the contribution of cohesion policy 
to the Europe 2020 strategy', CdR 223/2010: "52.in respect of the "resource-efficient Europe" flagship 
initiative, welcomes the objective of decoupling economic growth from the use of resources in future, 
and feels that greater use should be made of Structural Fund resources, not least in relation to energy 
efficiency  measures,  alternative energy  sources,  the  promotion  of  a  recycling-based  economy  and  the 
development of sustainable transport plans". 

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As  highlighted  in  the  Commission's  working  document  'Regions  2020'11  and  the  fifth 
Cohesion  report12,  EU  regions  face  a  number  of  key  challenges  such  as  globalisation, 
demographic change, energy security and climate change. On energy and climate change the 
EU has committed itself to the 20/20/20 objectives by 2020. Meeting such targets will have 
significant  but  variable  effects  on  EU  regions  as  some  need  to  achieve  much  greater 
reductions than others. Beyond the efforts to mitigate climate change by tackling greenhouse 
gas (GHG) emissions regions also need to implement measures to adapt to climate change. It 
is  anticipated  that  most  European  regions  will  be  negatively  affected  by  climate  change13, 
posing  challenges  to  the  environment  and  economic  development  as  well  as  creating  social 
fall-out (damage to homes from increased flooding, increased morbidity due to extreme heat 
waves, etc.). Those impacts will be asymmetric across European regions as it is outlined in a 
number  of  developments14  including  the  recent  White  Paper  on  adaptation  to  climate 
change15. 

All those recent developments need to be quickly taken into account if the EU is to deliver on 
its 2020 targets. In particular the contribution of RP has to be aligned with the "Europe 2020" 
strategy. 

Climate change, sustainable energy or protection of ecosystems and biodiversity have a strong 
regional dimension, including for instance the geographically diverse potential of renewable 
energy sources or the potential number of jobs linked with those investments. Hence, there is 
a need for public policy solutions to be designed and implemented at regional and local levels 
in partnership with the business and not-for-profit sectors. This also means that the success of 
EU policies in these fields will depend on the capacity to mobilise and empower regions and 
cities to implement and deliver on this vision of a low-carbon and resource efficient economy. 
The aim should be to reduce threats to long-term social well-being and build on opportunities 
to  develop  the  innovations  needed  to  deliver  new  sources  of  sustainable  economic 
development. 

A  comparative  analysis  of  the  relative  position  of  Member  States  on  the  sustainable  use  of 
resources16 (see following Map1) with the planned investments into this area at regional level 
(see  following  Map  2)  highlights  a  certain  correlation  between  the  potential  needs  and  the 
geographic  repartition  of  the  investments.  The  details  on  the  indicators  and  categories  of 
investments which underpin those maps are available in the Annex II. 

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SEC(2008) Regions 2020-an assessment of future challenges for EU Regions 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/working/regions2020/index_en.htm 
"Protecting the environment and improving its quality, together with the effect of adapting to climate 
change and mitigating its consequences, are crucial issues for EU regions. However, their importance 
differs substantially across regions" p.143 
Annex 1: map on the climate vulnerability index 
"Regions 2020 - the climate change challenge for European regions", March 2009, directorate general 
for  RP,  background  document  to  commission  staff  working  document  sec(2008),2868  final 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/working/regions2020/pdf/regions2020_climat.pdf 
COM(2009) 147 final 
For the methodological background see the following article:  
http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/economic_paper/2010/ecp401_en.htm 

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MAP 1: Relative position of Member States on 'sustainable use of resources' 

Scores in 'sustainable use of resources' 
Relative positions of MS: the higher the score, the better the situation 
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Source: European Commission, DG ECFIN 

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MAP 2: Planned investments of Cohesion Policy into 'sustainable use of resource' in 
2007-13 

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Source: European Commission, DG REGIO 

Over  2007-2013,  about  €  105  billion  of  RP  f unds  will  co-finance  projects  supporting 
sustainable  growth,  all  across  the  regions  as  highlighted  in  Annex  I,  map  1.  Data  from  the 
Member  State  2010  strategic  reports17  highlights  that  there  is  still  a  lot  of  potential  to  use 
funds allocated to sustainable development of the regions. By end of September 200918 about 
22% of available CP funding had been allocated to specific operations in favour of sustainable 
growth in comparison to approximately 27% on average for the overall CP in the MS. Across 
the main intervention categories and sub-categories progress varies markedly19. Results show 

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COM(2010)110 
Six MS (DE, EE, EL, ES, FR, SI) have provided their data on allocation to selected projects at dates 
other  than  30/09/09.  This  should  be  carefully  taken  into  consideration  when  making  comparative 
analysis  of  the  graphics.  It  is  recommended  to  compare  MS  progress  to  the  EU  average  rather  than 
making direct comparison between MS 
Details in Annex III 

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that current investment of available funds for energy-related and environmental programmes 
is  below  average.  At  the  start  of  this  programming  period,  sustainable  energy  and  climate 
change  were  not  the  priorities  they  are  today  limiting  the  development  of  projects.  Other 
factors impacting on utilisation of funds are the financial crisis and restricted public budgets 
and  insufficient  technical  expertise  and  administrative  bottlenecks  in  what  are  sometimes 
relatively new areas of activity for managing authorities. 

The  still  available  funding  in  the  different  categories  represents  genuine  opportunities  to 
bolster  sustainable  growth  at  local  and  regional  level.  Policy-makers  at  all  levels  in  the  MS 
need to act without delay, invest more in sustainable growth, and more effectively mobilise 
funds in line with original programme objectives. Beyond the EU funding perspective, some 
regions are already actively engaged in the critical paradigm shift towards sustainable growth. 
Quite a number of regions have started implementing or are designing SD strategies such as 
the local or regional "Agenda 21"20, as well as local or regional strategies on climate change. 
Regions are organising themselves in networks to exchange good practice and represent their 
interests in relation to these challenges not only at EU but also at UN level. In this perspective 
the urgency for RP to actively support and bolster such action should not be postponed until 
after 2013. 

EU  RP  has  now  to  flexibly  adjust  priorities  to  the  emerging  challenges  and  policy 
developments,  be  responsive  to  socio-economic  needs  and  complement  pro-active  actions 
already taken at regional level. Accordingly, this SWD sets out a number of options still open 
to  MS  to  seize  the  enormous  potential  to  use  the  significant  available  funds  to  boost 
sustainable growth.  

3. 

POLICY  FRAMEWORK:  THE  UNIQUENESS  OF  RP  FOR  DELIVERING 
SUSTAINABLE GROWTH 

Several attributes of RP make it particularly well-suited to address sustainable growth. As a 
place-based  policy,  it  takes  territorial  characteristics  into  consideration,  such  as  geographic, 
administrative,  socio-economic  aspects.  Furthermore,  it  provides  opportunities  to  forge 
public-private  partnerships  which  represent  an  important  tool  for  improved  governance  and 
sustainability. 

The multi-level  governance  which  is  a cornerstone of RP also has the potential to reconcile 
various  administrative  levels  dealing  with  sustainability  topics.  It  provides  a  framework  for 
integrating  interventions  within  coherent  EU,  national,  regional  and  local  strategies, 
exploiting  synergies  between  different  investment  decisions  and  controlling  possible 
conflicting objectives and outcomes. In addition RP can be complemented by investments of 
the  European  Social  Fund  (ESF)  in  capacity  building,  training  and  new  skills  which  are 
crucial  for  sustainable  growth.  Another  unique  feature  of  RP  is  its  focus  on  cross-border, 
transnational and inter-regional cooperation. It is particularly well adapted to assist regions in 
solving  environmental  issues  which  often  have  wide  geographic  spill-over  effects21.  In  this 
respect 35% of the funding available in the 2007-2013 period under the European Territorial 
Cooperation objective is already allocated to projects for sustainable growth. In addition the 

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Agenda 21 is a programme run by the United Nations (UN) on SD 
http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/ 
Major  river  basins,  trans-boundary  pollution  or  cross-border/transnational  climate  change  adaptation 
measures 

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macro-regional  strategies  on  the  Baltic  Sea22  and  on  the  Danube23  are  also  strongly  built 
around the reinforcement of the sustainability dimension in this broader territorial cooperation 
initiative. 

Evidence  from  the  ex-post  evaluation  of  Cohesion  Policy  in  2000-200624  on  environment, 
underlines the importance of funding for the environment: the ERDF invested 21% or €25.5 
billion  of  its  total  allocation  in  this  area  while  another  €15.8  billion  was  allocated  to 
environment from the Cohesion Fund. The main areas of environment-related measures were 
environment  infrastructure  and  rehabilitation  measures.  For  example,  the  additional 
population  connected  to  wastewater  collection  and  treatment  in  the  EU  is  estimated  to  be 
around 40 million (12% of the population) in the period 2000-2006, RP contributed to half of 
it. Data for the other sectors are more moderate but still very impressive: 14 million people 
are  served  by  improved  water  supply,  and  waste  treatment  capacity  increased  by  more  than 
230 000 m3/day. 

The ex-post evaluation further concludes that although very good environmental results were 
delivered,  difficulties  limited  the  effectiveness  of  the  measures.  For  example,  while  the  co-
financed environmental investments have greatly contributed to meeting the requirements laid 
down  in  the  environmental  acquis,  they  were  often  not  meant  to  deliver  direct  economic 
impacts. The evaluation concluded that, in many cases, environmental investments were not 
part  of  the  general  socio-economic  development  strategies  or  when  environmental 
investments  were  intended  for  economic  impact,  the  accompanying  measures  were  not 
apparent and their coordination with other activities for regional economic development was 
limited. Most notably, problems with determining the appropriate treatment capacity and the 
trade-offs  between  the  application  of  the  polluter-pays-principle  and  what  people  in  poorer 
regions could afford to pay for the services. In addition, environmental infrastructure does not 
have  a  sufficient  short-term  impact  on  the  economic  development  of  the  region  (apart  from 
the  demand  side  effect  from  the  construction  activities).  To  enhance  its  economic  impact, 
there  is  need  to  ensure  sufficient  institutional  capacity  for  the  development  of  integrated 
strategies  and  a  volume  of  good-quality  projects,  as  well  as  to  ensure  that  the  measures 
adopted  are  specifically  designed  to  correspond  to  region  characteristics  by  integrating 
economic  measures  within  the  overall  development  strategy  and  exploiting  synergies  rather 
than in the special design of isolated environmental measures. 

SD  already  constitutes  a  priority  in  the  Regulation25  and  in  the  Community  Strategic 
Guidelines  on  cohesion.  Short  after  the  mid-point  of  this  programming  period,  this  SWD 
provides policy practitioners with practical guidance for the current period and assists them to 
prepare the post-2013 programmes.  

In  order  to  increase  the  contribution  of  RP  to  sustainable  growth  this  paper  proposes  a  two 
pillar-approach: 

Pillar  I:  investing  more  in  sustainable  growth:  encouraging  greater  strategic  focus  in 
investments on sustainable growth with an emphasis on resource efficiency; 

Pillar II: investing better in sustainable growth: improving policy delivery mechanisms by 

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COM(2009)248 final 
COM(2010) 715 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/evaluation/expost2006/wp5b_en.htm 
Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006, Article 16 

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reinforcing  the  application  of  sustainable  development  principles  in  the  operational 
programmes.  

It  has  to  be  a  priority  of  all  stakeholders  in  regional  development  to  focus  on  opportunities 
that maximise economic, environmental and social benefits simultaneously. This necessitates 
identifying and making explicit the trade-offs between the two pillars during the early stages 
of  the  programme  and  project  design  phases  in  a  much  more  systematic  way.  Subsequent 
investment decisions that fail to take into account the significance of these trade-offs should 
be  given  a  low  priority  when  selecting  projects  for  funding  under  the  RP  funding.  For  the 
current  and  future  programming  periods,  the  integrated,  multi-level  governance  and  inter-
regional co-operation approach privileged by RP needs to be maintained and reinforced across 
the board, with a view to strengthening the measurable outcomes26 in terms of SD in the EU’s 
regions and cities.  

4. 

PROPOSED ACTIONS 

Pillar I: Investing more in sustainable growth 

This  paper  calls  for  greater  focus  of  the  investments  targeting  sustainable  growth  with  an 
emphasis on three priorities:  

(i) a low carbon economy (LCE),  

(ii) ecosystem services and biodiversity,  

(iii) eco-innovations.  

In each of these areas the potential for securing jobs and improved economic competitiveness 
at  local  and  regional  level  represents  a  genuine  opportunity  for  development.  The  focus  of 
investments  should  be  towards  win-win  projects  which  benefit  both  the  environment  and 
socio-economic dimensions. 

Furthermore,  an  evaluation27  of  the  exit  strategies  from  the  economic  crisis  in  a  number  of 
MS  showed  that  the  adopted  stimulus  packages  were  limited  to  short-term  effects  and  they 
most  often  did  not  intend  to  resolve  underlying structural issues in  SD  and  social  cohesion. 
Many structures of the economy - such as on transport and energy - are path-dependent and 
changes  can  involve  high  costs.  Such  changes  can  be  easier  to  implement  in  times  of 
economic crisis. The time is now ripe for shifting from short-term stimulus to mid-term policy 
frameworks.  

The recent crisis has highlighted the need to increase efforts to decouple growth from energy 
use  and  become  a  more  resource  efficient  economy,  which  will  not  only  give  Europe  a 
competitive  advantage,  but  also  reduce  its  dependency  on  foreign  sources  of  raw  materials 
and commodities28. RP strategies and programmes need to dedicate greater effort to ensure a 
more  comprehensive  approach  to  sectoral  investments  and  make  them  more  effective.  They 
need  to  cover  both  the  development  and  wide  utilisation  of  the  green  technologies  of  the 

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COM(2010) 642 final, p.4 chapter on 'Strengthening performance through conditionality and incentives' 
Taking  advantage  of  the  crisis:  synergies  between  environmental  policies  and  social  inclusion, 
www.ecologic.eu 
COM(2010) 2020 

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future,  as  well  as  the  ones  improving  today's  resource  efficiency.  There  is  a  need  to  ensure 
that  the  appropriate  accompanying  policies  in  areas  such  as  promoting  entrepreneurship, 
upgrading  the  workforce  skills  and  making  appropriate  financing  available  are  strengthened 
and factored in.  

The  substantial  financial  support  provided  by  RP  for  investments  in  research,  technological 
development  and  innovation  must  be  closely  aligned  with  the  growth  sectors  of  the  future, 
helping  regions  to  transform  their  challenges  into  opportunities,  built  on  the  basis  of  their 
indigenous resources.  

1)  Transition  to  a  low  carbon  economy:  focus  on  investments  in  energy  efficiency, 
buildings, renewables and clean transport  

Energy investments in buildings, renewable energies and clean transport are at the centre of 
the  changes  needed  for  transition  to  a  low-carbon  and  resource  efficient  economy.  Energy 
plays a crucial role in the cost basis and competitiveness of enterprises in general and of the 
energy intensive industries, in particular. Provided with the right conditions, enterprises will 
be  able  to  adapt  and  seize  the  benefits  of  LCE,  an  essential  condition  to  achieving  a 
sustainable future and minimising the risk of carbon leakage29. 

A  number  of  studies  from  public  and  private  organisations30  have  identified  possible 
roadmaps  to  meet  a  zero-carbon  EU  by  2050.  The  EU  energy  system  needs  to  undergo  a 
radical restructuring to meet the long-term objective of reducing GHG emissions by 80% by 
2050  compared  to  the  1990  levels  with  the  currently  identified  technologies.  This  effort 
cannot be achieved through only the energy sector becoming a low-carbon system but major 
contributions  are  needed  from  agriculture  and  land  use,  households,  and  the  industrial  and 
transport sectors31.  

The EU is at a strategic juncture in the coming five to ten years. The choices being made now 
and  in  the  near  future  will  ultimately  be  decisive  in  achieving  the  long-term  vision.  For 
example, over the next ten years, energy investments in the order of € 1 tril lion are needed, 
both  to  diversify  existing  resources  and  replace  equipment  and  to  cater  for  challenging  and 
changing energy requirements32. This is both a challenge and an opportunity: it can move the 
EU towards its goal in climate change mitigation or lock it into an unsustainable energy mix. 
It  urges  the  EU  to  start  investing  substantially  in  the  power  grid  of  2050  and  boosting 
investment in energy research and innovation to accelerate the deployment of the low carbon 
technologies in the period 2020-30.  

In  relation  to  the  present  programming  period,  Managing  Authorities  (MAs)  need  to  take 
greater advantage and accelerate investment of the already substantial support in RP to energy 
efficiency (EE) and renewable energy sources (RES). Secondly, whenever possible the total 

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Commission  Decision  of  24  December  2009  determining,  pursuant  to  Directive  2003/87/EC  of  the 
European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council,  a  list  of  sectors  and  subsectors  which  are  deemed  to  be 
exposed to a significant risk of carbon leakage 
European  Climate  Foundation,  "Roadmap  2050  -  A  Practical  Guide  to  a  Prosperous,  Low-carbon 
Europe"; http://www.roadmap2050.eu/ 
Getting into the right lane for 2050, A primer for EU debate, by Netherlands Environmental Assessment 
Agency 
Energy 2020: A strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy; COM(2010)639, 10 November 
2010 

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level of investment to those priorities should be increased, given the key role they play in the 
sustainable development of the regions.  

Energy investments in buildings 

Over the recent years a number of major new EU policy measures as well as legislation have 
been  adopted,  including  the  climate  and  energy  package  2008  and  the  recasting  of  the 
Directive on Energy Performance of Building33 which is expected to create between 280,000 
and 450,000 new jobs by 2020.  

Buildings account for 41% of energy consumption, making this a key area for investment34 to 
achieve EU 2020 targets, both in enhancing resource efficiency and creating local jobs.  

Studies being undertaken to assess the impact of the present Energy Efficiency Action Plan35 
indicate  that  with  the  present  and  planned  measures,  the  EU  will  fall  (about  10%)  short  of 
fulfilling  its  commitment  to  reduce  its  energy  consumption  by  20%  by  2020.  The  studies 
stress unsurprisingly the key role that increased energy efficiency in the building sector can 
play to meet the target, leading to a significant reduction in  energy consumption.  They  also 
highlight the role that cities can play, particularly in the encouragement of new technologies 
and their diffusion.  

Following  the  adoption  of  an  amendment  to  the  ERDF  Regulation  in  May  200936,  RP  can 
now  further  (in  addition  to  the  existing  contribution  to  sustainable  energies  in  public, 
commercial  and  industrial  buildings)  assist  investments  in  EE  and  RES  in  residential 
buildings  that  support  social  cohesion  in  the  EU  27,  with  up  to  4%  of  the  national  ERDF 
allocation available for this purpose. It represents a potential of € 8 bi llion of investments in 
this area through the 2007-2013 CP. 

In addition an amendment to the same Regulation37 extends the use of financial engineering 
instruments to investments in EE and RES in buildings, including existing housing.  

RP  encourages  public-private  partnerships  based  on  a  combination  of  grants  and  various 
forms of revolving funds that can be developed in collaboration with financial institutions and 
tailored  to  meet  specific  market  needs.  There  are,  for  example,  specific  experiences  with 
JASPERS38 providing technical assistance to elaborate an energy efficiency scheme for public 
buildings  in  Warsaw,  as  well  as  with  JESSICA39,  for  example,  in  Lithuania  and  Estonia 
establishing  holding  funds  to  promote  sustainable  energies  in  the  housing  sector.  Other 
interesting  experiences  exist  with  third  private  parties,  known  as  ESCOs  (Energy  Service 
Companies)  that  may  provide  the  financing  for  the  energy  investment  and  recover  the 
incurred costs through the obtained energy savings. This approach has been followed by the 

33 
34 
35 
36 

37 
38 

39 

Directive 2010/31/EU of 19 May 2010 
SEC(2008) 2865, impact assessment for the recast of the buildings performance Directive 2002/91/EC 
COM(2006)545 final 
Regulation (EC)  No 397/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council of  6  May  2009  amending 
Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 on the European Regional Development Fund as regards the eligibility 
of energy efficiency and renewable energy investments in housing 
OJ L158/1, 24.6.2010 
JASPERS  stands  for  Joint  Assistance  to  Support  Projects  in  European  Regions.  http://www.jaspers-
europa-info.org/   
JESSICA  stands  for  Joint  European  Support  for  Sustainable  Investment 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/2007/jjj/jessica_en.htm 

in  City  Areas. 

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city of Berlin where about 1,300 public buildings have been refurbished through collaboration 
with ESCOs. 

A number of EU cities have committed themselves to move beyond the EU 2020 targets on 
climate  change  and  energy  by  joining  the  Covenant  of  Majors40  which  offers  a  further 
opportunity to achieve the EU goals with the support of the funds available under RP. 

Building on the Covenant of Mayors approach 

Within  the  'Covenant  of  Mayors',  the  Province  of  Barcelona  (ES)  launched  an  ambitious 
sustainable energy plan in 140 municipalities covering 4.5 million people. The Province has 
promoted  the  participation  of  municipalities  to  the  Covenant  and  is  providing  technical 
assistance to help prepare the Action Plans and providing coordination to ensure availability 
of public and private financial support as well as technical support for joint calls for tender for 
small  municipalities.  Further  technical  assistance  is  planned  to  assist  in  the  preparation  of 
concrete  investment  projects  at  municipal  level  partially  funded  by  an  EU  ELENA  grant. 
Based  on  preliminary  studies  CO2  emissions  reductions  over  4  million  tonnes/year  are 
expected.  The  provincial  plan  focuses  mainly  on  energy  efficiency  in  public  lighting  and 
buildings  and  production  of  renewable  energies  such  as  solar  roofs.  The  potential  of 
investments in the next 3 years amount to €  500 million, to come partially from the EIB. The 
ERDF is considered to be used as a possible lever to enable housing providers and their local 
partners to make the investments. 

A  recent  survey  and  report41  by  the  Committee  of  the  Regions  with  the  support  of  the 
Covenant of Mayors initiative gathered further examples of good practices from EU regions 
and cities in the area of sustainable energy. 

. 

Investments in renewable energies 

Achieving  the  EU  target  of  20%  RES  in  final  energy  consumption  in  2020  could  provide 
about  410,000  additional  jobs42.  Furthermore,  the  deployment  of  RES  can  be  an  especially 
important driver of local economic development such as in rural areas as well as in peripheral 
regions  or  on  islands.  In  this  framework  LRAs  need  to  see  RES  as  strategic  investments 
securing  employment  and  regional  development.  To  reap  the  full  benefits  of  the  local  RES 
potential (see map 3, Annex I for the example of solar energy), LRAs should address RES in a 
full life-cycle approach to develop an integrated regional supply chain on renewables, based 
on  the  local  potentials.  It  will  have  cross-sectoral  benefits  at  local  and  regional  level  from 
agriculture and forestry (biomass for energy) to SMEs, industry or the construction sectors. 

In  this  encouraging  framework,  RP  funding  can  currently  assist  in  boosting  RES  in  the 
heating  and  cooling  sector,  including  efficient  solutions  such  as  district  heating  and  co-

40 

41 
42 

The  Covenant  of  Mayors  consists  of  the  formal  commitment  by  City  Councils  to  go  beyond  the  EU 
objectives in terms of CO2 reduction (more than 20%) through the preparation and implementation of 
Sustainable  Energy  Action  Plans.  To  date  over  2000  EU  cities  are  committed  members,  see  at 
http://www.eumayors.eu/ 
http://portal.cor.europa.eu/europe2020/news/Pages/SustainableEnergySurvey.aspx 
The impact of renewable energy policy on economic growth and employment in the European Union; 
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/studies/doc/renewables/2009_employ_res_summary.pdf 

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generation or co-generation of heat and power from RES, and fostering renewable electricity 
from wind, biomass, solar, geothermal or marine energy.  

MAs  should  also  support  investments  in  the  local  'smart  grids',  as  part  of  the  wider  TEN-E 
network,  to  effectively  enable  the  exploitation  of  the  decentralised  RES  potential.  Further 
ways for LRAs to push forward the deployment of sustainable energy is to develop territorial 
energy  agencies,  possibly  supported  by  RP  funding43,  which  provide  the  know-how, 
capacities and experience on integrated development of EE and RES. For instance MAs are 
encouraged to tap into the results of the Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) programme44 that has 
created  80  new  local  and  regional  energy  agencies,  adding  to  the  200  new  energy  agencies 
which were created during the 1990's by the SAVE programme45. It could be relevant to make 
use of these agencies in initiatives supported by RP. 

Comprehensive development of renewable energy in Güssing, Austria 

In a period of 15 years the town of Güssing46 has been transformed from a state of economic 
decline to a thriving, forward-looking town, based on renewable energy. It used the targets in 
terms  of  renewable  energy  sources  as  a  genuine  opportunity  for  strong  local  development, 
rather  than  a  constraint.  Through  the  comprehensive  use  of  renewable  energies,  especially 
biomass, it has created 50 new companies and 1 000 jobs in 15 years. The total reliance on 
local  raw  materials  ensures  a  high  level  of  value  added  for  local  producers,  as  well  as 
sustainable woodland management. The town became self sufficient in the field of heat and 
electricity and can earn additional revenue by selling any surplus. During the 2000-06 period 
the  ERDF  supported  those  developments  with  €  15.8  million  of  investments.  Cutting  edge 
technology, and the commitment of the local authorities have driven the pace of change and 
now made a name for Güssing around the world. 

Recovering from economic downturn with renewables: Bremerhaven, Germany 

The economy of the city of Bremerhaven, based on shipping, shipbuilding and a commercial 
fishery  faced  a  strong  economic  downturn  in  the  1990s  forcing  the  local  authorities  to 
urgently look to economically diversify. Offshore wind energy was chosen as an alternative 
development  since  the  region’s  historical  strengths  included  comprehensive  maritime 
technology  know-how  and  an  existing  skilled  workforce  in  this  area.  To  date  Bremerhaven 
has attracted four major manufacturers of wind turbines as well as companies specialised in 
offshore wind energy construction. Half of the €500 million invested in offshore wind power 
development  along  the  German  North  Sea  coastal  region  during  the  past  years  went  to  this 
city alone. The success of Bremerhaven is especially due to a clear and integrated industrial 
strategy, public ownership of land, and significant clustering of competencies. Bremerhaven’s 
companies have already created some 700 new jobs and it is expected to rise to 1,000–1,200. 
To  continue  this  growth,  dedicated  training  schemes  were  put  in  place  in  the  companies 
themselves, with the support of schools and universities in the region. Since summer 2008, the 
ERDF  supports  the  'POWER  Cluster'47  project,  an  Interreg  IVB  project  which  aims  at 

43 
44 
45 
46 

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RegioStar project NRW Energy Agentur 
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/ 
http://www.managenergy.net/indexes/I30.htm 
An extensive case study "ERDF – promotion of renewable energy sources in Burgenland: a model for 
at:
other 

regions" 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/newsroom/pdf/200912_burgenland.pdf  

European 

available 

is 

http://www.power-cluster.net/ 

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building  a  northern  European  competence  centre  on  offshore  wind  energy  based  on  the 
learning and experience of 18 partners, especially those involved in Bremerhaven. 

Finally,  RP  allocations  to  sustainable  energy  can  be  reinforced  by  working  closely  together 
with  other  EU  policies.  The  objective  is  to  develop  synergies  with  the  other  EU  funding 
instruments targeting energy efficiency and renewables. Hence, MAs are encouraged to draw 
on  the  assistance  offered  by  the  IEE  programme  as  well  as  possibly  by  the  LIFE+ 
programme48 or FP749. For the Covenant of Mayors initiative, RP could provide the technical 
assistance  to  assist  the  cities  in  preparing  a  pipeline  of  quality  projects  as  well  as  financial 
engineering schemes to support the proposed investments. The aim should be to mainstream 
at regional level the successful small-scale projects on sustainable energy supported by other 
EU instruments and therefore ensure an efficient pipeline of projects. 

Clean transport 

The background for the RP intervention in this sector lies in the 2006 mid-term review of the 
White Paper on Transport Policy50 that proposed a number of measures to overhaul the policy. 
Its  objective  is  to  make  transport  more  sustainable  and  avoid  the  economic  losses  due  to 
congestion, pollution and accidents. The mid-term review proposed a range of actions: 

•  the promotion of co-modality;  

•  an increased energy efficiency;  

•  the development of new technologies (i.e.: Intelligent Transport Systems)  in all transport 

modes in order to cut costs and improve security; and  

•  the promotion of clean urban transport systems.  

The  2009  Communication  on  the  future  of  Transport  Policy51  underlines  the  need  for  an 
increased  focus  on  environmental  sustainability,  shifting  to  more  efficient  transport  modes 
and  the  introduction  of  innovative  solutions.  A  new  White  Paper  on  Transport  should  be 
adopted soon for the period 2011-2020.  

RP programmes for 2007-13 are already making a significant contribution to these sustainable 
objectives  and  in  particular  to  the  decarbonisation  of  transport52.  However  project  delivery 
needs  to  be  boosted.  LRAs  should  build  on  the  many  opportunities  offered  by  sustainable 
transport  to  create  local  employment,  improve  accessibility  and  reach  a  balanced  territorial 
development  while  reducing  their  emissions  and  preserving  resources.  For  example,  during 
the  present  programming  period  further  support  can  be  provided,  when  appropriate,  to 
sustainable  transport  projects  that  may  be  quickly  implemented  such  as  in  urban  public 
transport,  intelligent  transport  systems  or  clean  and  energy  efficient  vehicle  technologies  or 
non-motorised transport. Priority should be given to projects that enhance sustainability and 

48 
49 

50 
51 

52 

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/ 
For  instance  'The  practical  guide  to  EU  funding  opportunities  for  Research  and  Innovation'  provides 
helpful support: http://cordis.europa.eu/eu-funding-guide/home_en.html 
"European transport policy for 2010 : time to decide" (2001) 
A  sustainable  future  for  transport:  Towards  an  integrated,  technology-led  and  user-friendly  system’ 
(COM(2009)279 final – 17 June 2009) 
CP allocations for sustainable transport in the 207-13 period are of € 38 B and provide support for TEN 
and  national/regional  objectives  investment  in  railways,  mobile  rail  assets;  cycle  tracks,  multimodal 
transports, intelligent transport systems, ports, clean urban transport 

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that  are  part  of  existing  integrated  EU/national/regional/urban  transport  strategies.  The  Irish 
example below illustrates an integrated approach to sustainable transport. 

Sustainable transport scheme in Ireland 

Ireland  set  up  a  new  transport  policy  for  2009-2020  ("smarter  travel  –  A  Sustainable 
Transport  Future")  in  which  the  Irish  Government  affirms  its  vision  for  sustainability  in 
transport with an Action Plan, supported by the ERDF that includes:  

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

actions  to  reduce  distance  travelled  by  private  car  and  encourage  smarter  travel, 
including pricing mechanisms or fiscal measures to encourage behavioural change, 

actions aimed at ensuring that alternatives to the car are more widely available, mainly 
through  a  radically  improved  public  transport  service  and  investment  in  clean  and 
energy efficient vehicle technologies, 

actions  aimed  at  improving  the  fuel  efficiency  of  motorised  transport  through 
improved fleet structure, energy efficient driving and alternative technologies. 

Concerning the 2014-2020 period RP programmes will have to build on the conclusions of the 
new  White  Paper  on  transport.  Priority  should  be  given  to  a  radical  renovation  of  road 
transport by decarbonising road vehicles and using the most appropriate transport type for the 
specific need. If road transport has a 70% share of the inland freight and passenger transport, 
and urban transport accounts for 40% of the CO2 emissions from road transport, it seems clear 
that  particular  attention  is  needed  for  an  integrated  sustainable  urban  mobility.  Moreover 
particular  attention  should  be  given  to  speeding  up  the  implementation  the  €  19  billion 
indicative allocation from RP to TEN-T. 

Further  efforts  are  needed  in  technological  development  to  accelerate  the  decarbonisation, 
such  as  RTD  efforts  with  more  focus  on  projects  of  a  European  dimension,  boosting  the 
development of alternative fuels from renewable energies and supporting intelligent transport 
systems and other related areas. Further, a high level of decarbonisation cannot be achieved 
by technological advances alone, and will need the contribution from a change in modal split 
too, as well as other behavioural changes as regards personal mobility. 

. 

2) Ecosystem services: focus on preserving and maximising the potential of the natural 
environment 

The  EU  has  missed  its  2010  target  of  halting  biodiversity  decline53.  One  of  the  ten  priority 
goals in the 2006-2010 Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) was to ensure that EU funds for the 
regions  benefit  biodiversity  and  minimise  and  offset  possible  negative  impacts  of  regional 
development.  The  final  report  of  the  BAP  highlights  the  need  for  additional  measures 
regarding RP such as careful infrastructure planning to ensure that development is compatible 
with and contributes to biodiversity protection. 

To reinforce efforts the Member States54 agreed on a new target for 2020 which will underpin 
the  forthcoming  new  EU  biodiversity  strategy:  to  halt  the  loss  of  biodiversity  and  the 

53 
54 

COM(2010) 548 final 
Environment Council Conclusions 7536/10, 15 March 2010 

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degradation of ecosystem services in the EU by 2020, restore them in so far as feasible, while 
stepping  up  the  EU  contribution  to  averting  global  biodiversity  loss.  In  this  framework  the 
Committee  of  the  Regions  recently  underlined  the  role  of  local  and  regional  authorities  in 
halting the loss of biodiversity55.  

At international level, the EU has committed to the results of CBD COP 1056, where one of 
strategic goals aims to enhancing the benefits from biodiversity and ecosystem services (and 
related  targets)  as  part  of  the  Strategic  Plan  for  Biodiversity  2011-2020.  To  implement  this 
Strategic  Plan,  all  parties,  including  the  EU,  agreed  to  start  working  on  a  resources 
mobilisation process. Furthermore the international study on 'The Economics of Ecosystems 
and Biodiversity'57 (TEEB study) co-driven by the Commission provides key inputs on where 
biodiversity strategies and policies should focus attention, in particular to deploy the approach 
in  terms  of  ecosystem  services.  The  TEEB  report  for  Local  and  RP  Makers58  develops 
practical  ways  forward,  underpinned  by  concrete  examples,  on  how  to  protect  and  make  a 
sustainable  use  of  local/regional  ecosystems.  Along  with  other  reports  it  shows  the  added 
value  and  efficiency  from  a  comprehensive  approach  incorporating  the  conservation  and 
sustainable use of ecosystems.  

Investing in natural capital as a source of economic development 

The  way  ahead  for  further  protection  of  biodiversity  and  nature  in  the  EU  regions  is  to 
develop an integrated approach in terms of 'ecosystem services', the term used in the United 
Nations 2004 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment referring to naturally occurring benefits and 
the losses that can be suffered if they are not preserved. Such an approach requires a holistic 
view on the environment as a key overarching element of regional SD. Concretely any project 
touching  mainly  upon  one  dimension  of  the  ecosystem  should  also  take  into  account  the 
relations  and  impacts  on  the  other  dimensions.  The  active  protection  of  the  different 
components  of  ecosystems  such  as  its  water  resources,  forests,  soils59,  or  arable  land  will 
ensure sustained basic services such as freshwater, food and biomass production, natural risk 
prevention, etc. The marine environment has also to be taken into account in this perspective, 
building  on  the  objectives  of  the  Marine  Strategy  Framework  Directive60.  It  is  therefore 
crucial  at  the  local  and  regional  level  to  promote  the  implementation  of  "win-win-win" 
measures,  i.e.  projects  that  benefit  the  economy,  conserve  biodiversity  while  actively 
contributing to climate mitigation and adaptation and ensuring further ecosystem services. 

Biodiversity  and  ecosystem  services  constitute  the  underlying  basis  for  all  social  and 
economic  activities  and  provide  ample  opportunities  for  employment  within  SMEs  and 
cultural  activities.  Economies  and  businesses  depend  directly  (e.g.  water  supply  and  the 
tourism  sector)  or  indirectly  (e.g.  pharmaceuticals,  food  and  drink),  on  biodiversity  and 
ecosystem  services  even  where  those  services  do  not  have  market  values.  About  16.8%  of 

55 

56 

57 
58 
59 

60 

CdR  112/2010  fin,  Opinion  of  the  Committee  of  the  Regions  on  EU  and  international  biodiversity 
policy beyond 2010 
Tenth  meeting  of  the  Conference  of  the  Parties  to  the  Convention  on  Biological  Diversity  (CBD 
COP10), Nagoya, Japan 18-29 October 2010 
More information available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/economics/ 
http://www.teebweb.org/ForLocalandRegionalPolicy/tabid/1020/Default.aspx 
Soil biodiversity represents a quarter of the global biodiversity and is directly involved in vital services 
such  as  mitigating  climate  change,  storing  and  purifying  water,  providing  antibiotics…To  continue 
benefiting from theses services further efforts to value soil biodiversity are needed 
Directive 2008/56/EC of the European parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 

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European  jobs  are  indirectly  linked  to  natural  assets61  while  the  estimated  value  of  insect 
pollination for European agriculture is € 22 billion per year 62.There is growing attention given 
to  the  valuation  of  biodiversity  and  ecosystem  services.  Such  investments  can  preserve 
biodiversity,  strengthen  adaptation  to  climate  change,  and  indeed  be  financially  profitable. 
Green infrastructure could also lead to new partnerships of biodiversity and CP funding with 
banks and financial operators, as they might realise that investing in green infrastructure could 
bring benefits in medium and long-term perspectives. 

Investing in natural disaster prevention 

In the last decade the EU has witnessed a significant increase in the number and severity of 
natural  disasters  such  as  flooding,  forest  fires  or  storms.  Regions  had  to  cope  with  the 
resulting major damage in terms of destruction of economic and social infrastructure as well 
as  the  degradation  of  often  already  fragile  ecosystems.  These  catastrophes  are  expected  to 
worsen as climate change increases the frequency and magnitude of extreme meteorological 
events.  The  recent  Commission  Communication  on  natural  disaster  prevention63  further 
recognised natural disasters as an element which may adversely affect the economic growth 
and competitiveness of EU regions. 

In  this  context,  disaster  prevention  requires  reinforced  attention  as  a  necessary  objective  in 
itself  but  also  as  a  transversal  issue  to  be  integrated  into  regional  development  at  large, 
beyond the sectoral approaches. Firstly, disaster prevention projects can have wide-spread and 
long-lasting  co-benefits  in  terms  of  ecosystem  services.  Indeed  well  designed  and 
implemented disaster prevention projects, such as the following Hungarian example on flood 
prevention, can also benefit biodiversity and preserve water quantity and quality, agriculture 
and  eco-tourism.  Secondly,  disaster  prevention  needs  to  be  viewed  as  a  very  sensible  and 
effective investment since the costs of preventative measures are usually many times less than 
the potential costs of rehabilitation. 

Concerning  flood  protection  it  might  be  for  instance  more  effective  to  conserve  or  restore 
natural floodplains than to only construct artificial dikes that will increase the risk of flooding 
downstream (mal-adaptation). This is also underlined in the Commission's Directive on Flood 
Risks64 which requires MS to carry out preliminary flood risk assessment by 2011. 

Flood management along the Tisza River in Hungary 

The Tisza River in eastern Hungary is flood prone. To tackle this threat a decision was made 
to create reservoirs on some of the original flood plains of the river which were curtailed by 
dikes  over  the  centuries.  It  will  also  help  to  cope  with  climate  change  impacts.  For  the 
construction of six reservoirs and the relocation of some dikes, the ERDF and Cohesion Fund 
will invest € 290 million of a total of € 400 m illion. Those investments started in 2000-2006 
and  will  continue  over  2007-2013  which  underlines  the  long  planning  and  implementation 
time. A broad cross-sectoral approach was needed, involving several Ministries, the research 
and  scientific  community  as  well  as  local  authorities  and  general  public.  The  first  reservoir 
was  completed  in  2008.  In  addition  to  helping  to  adapt  to  climate  change,  natural  flood 

61 

62 
63 

64 

TEEB – The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for National and International Policy Makers – 
Summary: Responding to the Value of Nature 2009.  
Gallai et al. 2009 
Communication  on  'A  Community  approach  on  the  prevention  of  natural  and  man-made  disasters' 
adopted in February 2009 
Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risks 

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reservoirs  have  several  co-benefits  and  are  the  typical  win-win  investments  on  ecosystem 
services: 
- it is an efficient solution to significantly reduce flooding risks (buffer role of nature); 
- it provides a storage of water for irrigation, thus offering a solution to ease droughts; 
- it restores space to the river and nature thus protecting biodiversity (creation of wetlands); 
- it addresses the problem of decreasing groundwater level (regular flooding of the reservoirs); 
- it offers a new potential for eco-friendly agriculture, nature tourism and leisure activities. 
. 

Investing in "green infrastructure" and ecological networks  

Green infrastructure65 consists of spatially or functionally connected natural, semi-natural and 
man-made  rural  and  urban  elements  such  as  forests,  lakes,  rivers,  coastal  zones,  grassland, 
parks, green bridges... It can help to adapt to climate change and provides essential features 
for the maintenance of  ecosystem  services and is therefore key to maintaining a sustainable 
environment in which economies66 can prosper.  

In this respect managing authorities should further invest in the maintenance, creation or re-
development  of  ecological  networks  and  corridors  such  as  Natura  2000  which  already 
represents  an  essential  building  block  (see  map  4,  Annex  I)  of  an  EU-wide  nature  network. 
The  aim  is  to  avoid  fragmentation  of  landscapes  and  ensure  connectivity  to  allow  the  free 
movement  of  wildlife.  Ecological  networks  are  an  important  feature  of  contemporary 
conservation of habitats and species. 

ERDF funding for ecological corridors in Poland 

Within Operational Programme “Infrastructure and Environment”, the 5th priority is focused 
on  environmental  protection  and  the  promotion  of  ecological  habits  with  a  budget  of  €  89 
million  for  2007-13.  In  this  framework,  projects  on  green  infrastructure  are  currently 
implemented.  The  Coordination  Centre  for  Environmental  Projects  (CKPS)  coordinates  in 
Poland the implementation of nature projects co-financed by the ERDF and supports projects 
such as construction of animal passages, elimination of barriers for animal migration as well 
as  small  'promotion'  infrastructures  (educational  paths,  touristic  trail  infrastructure).  Natura 
2000 is given priority since projects that focus on facilitating the integrity of Natura 2000 sites 
and  the  overall  coherence  of  the  network  in  Poland  get  higher  scores  during  the  selection 
process.  Today  CKPS  supports  actions  related  with  green  infrastructure  in  ca.  100  projects 
with  overall  budget  of  about  €  50  million.  One  key  role  of  those  projects  is  about 
demonstration  and  feasibility,  making  the  case  for  integrated  approaches  on  gray 
infrastructure, nature conservation and water management. 

65 

66 

Green infrastructure encompasses elements such as reforestation zones, green bridges and green roofs, 
green urban areas, fish migration channels, high nature value farmland or forest areas, which maintain 
ecological  coherence  as  essential  condition  for  healthy  ecosystems.  The  added  value  of  Green 
Infrastructure  comes  through  its  multifunctional  use  for  greening  transport,  strengthening  the 
functionality of ecosystems for delivering goods and services and for mitigating and adapting to climate 
change  effects,  for  acting  as  barriers  against  erosion,  and  for  enhancing  the  quality  of  life  (health, 
tourism, conserving historic and cultural heritage). 
The European Economic and Social Committee underlines that 'The concept of "green infrastructure" 
put  forward  in  the  Commission  communication  should  be  vigorously  developed'  ;  NAT/471  -  CESE 
1178/2010 

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One of the most effective ways of building green infrastructure is to adopt a more integrated 
approach to land management. This is usually best achieved through strategic spatial planning 
enabling spatial interactions between different land uses. It is therefore crucial that elements 
such as spatial planning, land use or forest and wetland management are taken into account 
when projects co-financed by RP have an impact on natural areas. This is especially the case 
for  heavy  and  long-lasting  infrastructures  such  as  roads,  motorways,  railway  lines,  new 
business parks or waste water treatment plants. In addition, the construction of infrastructures 
leads to soil sealing as a result of covering of the soil surface with impervious materials. The 
sealed areas are lost to uses such as agriculture or forestry while the ecological soil functions 
are severely impaired or even prevented. Natural disaster prevention and adaptation to climate 
change actually starts at the very early stages of project development. Co-financed operations 
need to be undertaken respecting the relevant environmental legislation, in particular related 
to  EIA,  SEA  and  nature  (appropriate  assessment  according  to  Article  6  of  the  Habitats 
Directive). Experience suggests that such assessments can bring economic and social benefits 
to  project  design  through  presenting  different  options  at  an  early  stage,  thus  avoid  later 
problems.  This  should  go  hand  and  hand  with  an  integrated  planning  approach,  not  only  to 
minimise or avoid potential damage to the environment but rather to integrate environmental 
concerns in the planning stage. 

Green Infrastructure can be more cost-efficient than technical solutions, Ireland67 

In  Anne  Valley,  Ireland,  an  integrated  constructed  wetland  (ICW)  was  created  instead  of 
installing  a  traditional  water  treatment  plant.  Not  only  is  the  wetland  is  more  efficient  in 
clearing mostly livestock wastewater than a comparable traditional sewage plant, it also offers 
multiple  benefits  for  the  ecosystem  services  the  wetland  provides:  water  purification,  fresh 
water, climate regulation and carbon sequestration, flood control, recreational aspects (it has 
been amended with hiking, pedestrian and cycling paths), soil formation and nutrient cycling - 
and it provides a suitable habitat for wetland flora and fauna (snipes and otters as example). 
Some economic benefits are hard to measure: for example, farmers are quoted that they only 
continue in farming due to the installation of this wetland, and the aesthetical value of the area 
has  considerably  increased.  Capital  costs  for  1,750  population  equivalents  were  €  770,000 
plus  €  165,000  for  scientific  monitoring  of  the  pr oject  over  three  years.  This  sum  includes 
costs  for  tourism  facilities  of  €  220,000,  meaning  that  the  construction  of  the  wetland  was 
even  cheaper,  and  maintenance  costs  are  lower  than  for  a  traditional  plant.  This  favourably 
compares  to  estimated  costs  of  €  1,530,000  for  an   equivalent  traditional  plant.  Financing 
stems from the EU LIFE programme and the ERDF through an INTERREG III A project and 
local funding sources. 

As  a  further  example,  the  management  and/or  development  of  protected  areas  in  regions 
needs to be placed within the context of 'ecosystem services'. For example, nature parks are 
instruments and motors of regional sustainable growth in two ways. Firstly, they can provide 
important  impulses  for  regional  development  through  tourism,  conservation  activities, 
marketing  of  high  quality  regional  goods  and  development  of  regional  value-added  chains. 
They  also  reinforce  regional  identity,  improve  the  image  of  the  region  and  contribute  to 
education.  Secondly,  they  conserve  regional  biodiversity  and  secure  the  crucial  ecosystem 
services  such  as  carbon  sequestration,  biomass  production  and  climate  change  adaptation. 

67 

Sources:  Doody  et  al.  (2009):  Sewage  treatment  in  an  integrated  constructed  wetland.  Municipal 
engineer 162 Issue ME4, p. 199-205. Harrington and McInnes (2009): Integrated constructed wetland 
(ICW) for livestock wastewater treatment. Biosource Technology 100 5498-5505 

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Investing  in  protected  areas  and  parks  is  a  smart  investment  in  the  regional  environmental, 
social and economic assets. 

Finally, MAs can seize the opportunities of developing synergies with other EU polices and 
funding instruments. Using RP the aim should be to mainstream at regional level successful 
small-scale  projects  supported  by  other  EU  instruments  and  therefore  ensure  an  efficient 
pipeline  of  projects.  MAs  are  especially  encouraged  to  draw  on  the  support  offered  by  the 
LIFE programme68 for nature and biodiversity protection, the European Agricultural Fund for 
Rural  Development69  and  possibly  also  the  European  Fisheries  Fund70  and  the  research 
dimension through FP771. 

3)  Eco-innovations:  focus  on  mobilising  innovation  partnerships  and  information 
technology 

Eco-innovations  are  a  natural  junction  of  the  pursuit  towards  resource  efficiency, 
competitiveness  and  job  creation  as  highlighted  in  several  EU  action  plans72.  The  "Europe 
2020"  strategy  stresses  the  need  to  drive  investments  towards  a  knowledge-based  and 
resource-efficient economy. Within this framework a new EU Eco-Innovation Action Plan is 
currently  underway.  It  will  propose  reinforced  and  new  actions  in  order  to  deliver  cleaner, 
resource-efficient  and  low-carbon  economic  growth,  while  helping  to  create  new  and  better 
jobs  in  the  EU.  The  aim  is  to  harness  the  potential  of  eco-innovations  to  better  protect  the 
environment, significantly increase competitiveness and contribute to job creation in the long-
term.  Recent  studies  on  the  market  for  environmental  technology73  underscore  the  growing 
socio-economic potential of this sector. The eco-industry is one of Europe's biggest industrial 
sectors with around 3.4 million people directly employed in this sector in the EU. In recent 
years  the  eco-industry  has  grown  by  around  8%  annually  and  600,000  additional  jobs  were 
created between 2004 and 2008. Regions need to seize quickly the opportunities of investing 
in eco-innovations and Innovation in general as underlined in the recent Communication74 on 
‘RP  supporting  smart  growth  in  Europe  2020’  such  as  through  ‘smart  specialisation 
strategies’. 

Greater support to eco-innovations 

Public  interventions  such  as  RP  are  well  placed  to  address  some  of  the  key  hurdles  to  the 
deployment of eco-innovations. It can help to overcome the weak linkages between research 
and market, the skills gap as well as the problem of access to finance, especially in the area of 
ICT and for SMEs and clusters. The strategy to bolster environmental technologies and eco-
innovations in general is already enshrined in a number of OPs of the current RP. The short-
term challenge for each region is to develop strategies and projects tapping into their own eco-
innovation potential. The specificities and conditions of each territory are  paramount  in this 

68 
69 
70 
71 

72 

73 

74 

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/ 
Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 of 20 September 2005 
Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 of 27 July 2006 on the European Fisheries Fund 
For  instance  'The  practical  guide  to  EU  funding  opportunities  for  Research  and  Innovation'  provides 
helpful support: http://cordis.europa.eu/eu-funding-guide/home_en.html 
COM(2004)  38  final,  'Environmental  Technologies  Action  Plan  (ETAP)'  or  COM(2008)  397  final 
'Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy Action Plan' 
The  most  competitive  industries  are  the  most  resource  efficient  and  the  other  way  round  Study  'The 
competitiveness',  Project  ENV.G.1/ETU/2007/0041, 
links  between 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/economics_policy/pdf/exec_summary_comp.pdf 
COM(2010) 553 on RP and smart growth develops the concept of 'smart specialisation strategies' 

environment 

and 

the 

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respect. Successful eco-innovations for regional SD need also to factor in  the relevant  local 
actors (SMEs, universities, public authorities, etc). 

In  this  respect  SMEs  have  a  central  role.  Enterprises  are  the  cornerstone  of  socio-economic 
development  in  most  of  the  regions.  Therefore,  to  implement  eco-innovative  solutions,  they 
should  be  fully  integrated  into  the  development  and  dissemination  of  environmental 
technologies and eco-innovations. Public investments are well placed to support those SMEs 
that bring about the necessary technical and managerial changes to save energy, resources and 
reduce pollution. It is a direct investment to sustainable growth as those SMEs will be more 
competitive,  create  jobs  and  help  to  better  protect  the  environment.  Programmes,  as  in  the 
example  below,  can  play  an  active  role  in  bringing  a  well  targeted  business  support  and 
facilitating the exchange of good practices. 

The 'Enworks' programme of North-West England (UK)75

'Enworks'  is  a  business  support  programme,  co-financed  by  the  ERDF  and  established  in 
2001.  It  co-ordinates  environmental  advice,  training  and  support  to  businesses  and  ensures 
that  high  quality  environmental  business  support  is  available  to  all  enterprises  (especially 
SMEs) and is delivered in a co-ordinated way, increasing synergy and allowing good practice 
to be shared. Through 'Enworks' companies can access on-site support and an online toolkit to 
implement opportunities for improved resource efficiency. One 'Enworks' project specifically 
helped  companies  to  improve  resource  efficiency  and  reduce  waste  thus  increasing 
productivity and profitability. As a result since 2001 'Enworks' has helped: 
- Over 3,600 businesses with £75 million cost savings; 
- Save 190,000 tonnes of CO2 and 3,000,000 m3 of water;  
- Save 180,000 tonnes of raw materials per annum; 
- To provide more than 700 people with skills development. 
Given its success 'Enworks' just received £9.9 million new investment (including £3.5 million 
ERDF) to extend its existing service with the following objectives, inter alia: 
- Deliver 255,000 tonnes of CO2 savings;  
- Create an additional 240 jobs in the region and safeguard a further 500. 

Eventually  the  potential  of  eco-innovations  for  improved  resource  efficiency  should  be 
foreseen  in  a  whole  life  cycle  approach,  integrating  the  production  phase,  the  final  product 
and the re-use or recycling. The ERDF already supports project related to the concepts of the 
‘closed-loop  economy’  or  ‘waste  =  food’  such  as  the  Interreg  IVC  Fast-Track  project  ‘C2C 
Network’76 or regional  programmes77  of  the  national  industrial  symbiosis  programme  in  the 
UK. Those examples show that regions can already invest in regional strategies and projects 
to improve resource efficiency through eco-innovations.  

Boosting eco-innovation through green technology clusters  

RP can especially support eco-innovation projects such as through cluster development78. As 
shown  in  the  following  Austrian  example  MAs  can  use  RP  funding  to  develop  a 
comprehensive strategy and related projects on eco-innovation clusters. Clusters and possibly 
also networks are concrete solutions that open up new opportunities to many companies while 

75 
76 
77 
78 

http://www.enworks.com/ 
http://www.c2cn.eu/ 
Such as in the West Midlands, North East UK or Northern Ireland; http://www.nisp.org.uk/region.aspx 
The  geographical  concentration  of  interdependent  groups  of  firms,  research  institutions  and  other 
innovation stakeholders is often referred to as "clusters" 

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decisively strengthening their competitiveness. The Regions for Economic Change79 initiative 
is  an  opportunity  for  further  reinforcement  of  networking  of  eco-innovation  and  green 
technologies.  Managing  authorities  are  strongly  encouraged  to  support  environmental  and 
energy  clusters  based  on  public-private  partnerships  as  a  means  to  further  invest  in  eco-
innovations. 

Eco Innovation Support through Clusters in Lower Austria80  

The region of Lower Austria developed a 'Networks & Clusters' programme co-financed by 
the  ERDF.  This  initiative  is  managed  under  one  umbrella  by  the  regional  Business  Agency 
Ecoplus. It enables cross-cluster fertilisation, as well as implementing cross-cutting strategies 
such as fostering eco-innovation in all clusters. The cluster initiatives are part of the Regional 
Innovation System. The Green Building Cluster of Lower Austria bringing together expertise 
in energy efficient construction and rehabilitation of old buildings helped public authorities to 
define  new  technical  standards  and  requirements.  As  a  result  the  annual  refurbishment  rate 
has increased to about 2%. Within two years, it should be increase further to around 3%. This 
acts as a catalyst for technology, job creation and added value for Lower Austrian companies, 
with an estimated 6,000-9,000 new or safeguarded permanent jobs and a volume of building 
output  of  approx.  €750m  to  €1b  per  year.  The 
Plastics  Cluster  focuses  on  renewable 
resources. Results are now being turned into new products, e.g. PLA packaging films for food 
in cooperation with the Food Cluster. These successes are also linked to the close cooperation 
between  the  Lower  Austrian  companies,  R&D  and  public  authorities  in  combining  ecologic 
challenges and business opportunities.  

Promote Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) 

Investments  in  the  ICT  sector  represent  an  important  step  forward.  It  has  been  recently 
underlined  in  a  Communication  and  Recommendations  from  the  European  Commission81 
which, like the Committee of the Regions82, stress the role of regional and local authorities. 
Adequate ICT infrastructure has to be viewed as a key enabler for the deployment of green 
technologies and eco-innovations. It represents a sensible solution with potentially high return 
on investment. ICT is a powerful driver to maximise the results of investments in sectors like 
natural  resource  management,  natural  risk  prevention,  renewable  energies  or  energy 
efficiency. The management of natural resources (water, biodiversity…) and natural risks can 
be  improved  through  the  implementation  of  ICT  tools  such  as  electronic  maps,  remote 
sensing,  GIS  (Geographic  Information  System)  or  EWS  (Early  Warning  Systems).  In  the 
energy sector, the future lies in smart energy systems with a broad network of decentralised 
renewable energy production. Support to smart metering can lead to significant reduction in 
energy consumption and help tackle ‘energy poverty’. Moving towards low-carbon transport 
will also require the deployment of intelligent transport systems. Overall the rapid deployment 
of broadband networks and access to modern ICT, even in remote areas such as on islands or 
mountains, is central to the implementation and reinforcement of eco-innovative solutions. In 
addition, it fosters reinforced social inclusion. An integrated approach to the use of RP funds 

79 
80 
81 

82 

COM(2006) 675 final 
www.ecoplus.at 
COM(2009)  111  final  and  C(2009)  7604  final,  on  mobilising  Information  and  Communication 
Technologies to facilitate the transition to an energy-efficient, low-carbon economy 
CdR  254/2008  fin,  opinion  of  the  committee  of  the  regions  on  addressing  the  challenge  of  energy 
efficiency through information and communication technologies 

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in this area will enable EU regions to maximise their investments in ICT through synergies in 
the environmental, energy, transport and social areas. 

. 

Regional Early Warning System (EWS) on water scarcity in the Alps 

'Alp-Water-Scarce'83 (Water Management Strategies against Water Scarcity in the Alps) is a 
three  year  project  funded  by  the  "Alpine  Space  programme"  under  the  European  Territorial 
Cooperation 2007-2013. The project commenced in October 2008, involves 17 partners from 
five countries in the Alps and is coordinated by the Mountain Institute, University of Savoy, 
France. It deals with developing water management strategies and especially the deployment 
of  an  early  warning  system  (based  on  mobile  phone  supported  hydro-climatological 
monitoring, hydrological models and GIS) to predict water scarcity at the seasonal and multi-
annual level in the Eastern Alps (Regions of Veneto and Styria). Several universities, federal 
research  institutes,  regional  provinces,  local  governments,  regional  agencies,  alpine 
economical  societies,  geological  surveys  as  well  as  chambers  of  agriculture  and  forestry 
participate  in  the  project.  It  benefits  from  more  than  20  observers  including  the  Alpine 
Convention.  The  project  strongly  emphasises  stakeholder  participation  within  a  Stakeholder 
Interaction Forum which is essential for exchange of experience, collection of information on 
water scarcity (which is often not yet available electronically) and distribution of information 
and  knowledge.  On  the  basis  of  questionnaires  and  with  the  support  of  a  variety  of  ICT, 
qualitative information on problems and causes of water scarcity as well as possible solution 
strategies are transformed into quantitative information.  

Last  but  not  least,  ensuring  that  people  have  the  right  skills  for  the  jobs  of  today  and 
tomorrow will be key to building resource efficiency. Investment in human capital to build the 
relevant skills-sets is a prerequisite. The European Social Fund can provide support to unlock 
the  skills,  creativity,  entrepreneurialism  and  capacity  of  the  workforce  to  innovate,  in  line 
with the Europe 2020 flagship initiative "An Agenda for new skills and jobs". 

Furthermore it is essential that RP actions be designed in synergy with other EU polices in all 
the above  fields.  Hence,  MAs should  also use the support offered by other EU policies and 
instruments  such  as  the  Competitiveness  and  Innovation  Framework  Programme  (CIP)  and 
the  7th  research  Framework  Programme,  the  European  Agricultural  Fund  for  Rural 
Development  (EAFRD)  and  the  LIFE+  programme.  The  practical  guide  to  EU  funding 
opportunities for Research and Innovation84 provides helpful support in this respect. 

Linking research and SD, the FP7-4-SD.EU website 

A  monitoring  system  "FP7-4-SD"  was  launched  on  April  2010  at:  https://www.fp7-4-sd.eu. 
This  web-based  tool  can  help  to  identify  at  regional  (and  national)  level  the  different  FP7 
research projects and participants, including SMEs and CSOs and measure their contribution 
to the operational objectives outlined in the Renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy 
(Renewed EU SDS). Although the system had been developed on the basis of the content of 
the EU renewed SDS, it can be used for EU2020, to the extent that the flagship initiatives can 
be  estimated  by  a  set  of  operational  objectives  included  in  the  EU  renewed  SDS.  The 

83 
84 

http://www.alpwaterscarce.eu/ 
http://cordis.europa.eu/eu-funding-guide/home_en.html 

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interactive  database  of  FP7-4-SD.EU  allows  generating  different  analyses  including  the 
impact at regional level. For example, the Geographical View enables to zoom into a region 
and  view  the  full  list  of  projects  and  project  partners  related  with  the  operational  objective 
"Raising  the  level  of  Green  Public  Procurement".  Information  is  available  at  regional  level, 
which in principle corresponds to NUTS level 2, except for Belgium, Germany and the UK, 
where NUTS level 1 is used instead.  

Pillar II: Investing better in sustainable growth for improving policy delivery  

Achieving  further  integration  of  SD  principles  into  regional  development  requires  the 
adoption  of  a  comprehensive  approach  that  checks  at  every  step  in  the  decision-making 
process  for  opportunities  to  enhance  the  impact  of  investments  on  the  sustainability  of  the 
region. Opportunities to foster SD exist from strategy preparation to project implementation 
and evaluation of its impact. 

At project level, the basic approach consists of taking a holistic perspective that considers its 
whole life-cycle. The goal is to get the best possible added value in terms of SD out of each 
particular  investment,  taking  into  account  all  the  opportunities  for  synergies.  The  project 
scope needs to be expanded in order not only to target the very part of the project which gets 
the co-financing but also the upstream and downstream parts in a fully integrated and cross-
cutting  attitude.  In  the  context  of  the  present  RP  procedures,  it  is  proposed  to  enhance 
sustainability in each phase of the project cycle. It can be achieved by increasing the greening 
of public procurement and strengthening the climate resilience of investments to exploit every 
opportunity  to  develop  a  resource  efficient  economy  and  to  deepen  and  apply  a  number  of 
good  practices  in  the  area  of  good  governance,  an  essential  component  of  a  successful  SD 
strategy. 

.1) Integrating sustainability throughout the project life-cycle 

Sustainable  Development  as  an  integral  part  from  project  design  to  delivery  and 
monitoring 

Project implementation can benefit from a broadened project cycle management approach. At 
the  different  stages  of  the  project  life-cycle  opportunities  exist  to  improve  the  sustainability 
performance of investments, requiring a consideration of the impacts of RP investments over 
appropriate timeframes.  

The objective is to go beyond the sole 'delivery' perspective and to shift towards a long-term 
'performance' perspective. This evolution is also needed to respond to the reinforced attention 
by the Court of Auditors on 'performance audits'. The recent Special Report85 on waste water 
treatment measures in RP has to be placed into this context. It will increase the pressure on 
both  the  MS  and  the  European  Commission  to  deliver  projects  not  only  compliant  with  the 
relevant EU legislation but also performing adequately. Last year the Court of Auditors has 
also  put  "Climate  change  and  sustainable  Europe"  in  its  new  audit  priorities86;  it  further 

85 

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EN 

for 

the 

Special  Report  No  3/2009,  "The  effectiveness  of  Structural  Measures  spending  on  waste  water 
treatment 
periods"; 
and 
http://eca.europa.eu/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/2588293.PDF 
ECA/10/08;  Presentation  of  the  2010  work  programme  of  the  European  court  of  auditors  to  the 
committee 
parliament; 
http://eca.europa.eu/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/3680724.PDF 

programme 

1994-1999 

2000-2006 

budgetary 

European 

control 

the 

on 

of 

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underlines the necessity for RP to look specifically at the effectiveness of funding in the SD 
area. 

As  a  promoter  of  public  investment  RP  bears  a  responsibility  in  the  process  leading  to  the 
execution of the co-financed project as well as its aftermath. Some instruments, such as the 
SEA and EIA procedures, already provide a tool for verifying a number of key elements for 
ensuring the sustainability at the upstream phases for certain types of programme and project 
development. However, as sustainability is about a long-term commitment, the follow-up of 
co-financed  projects  and  their  impact  also  have  to  be  considered.  Over  a  reasonable 
timeframe,  public  investment  should  not  only  remain  at  the  very  least  neutral  in  terms  of 
impact  on  the  sustainability  of  the  territory,  but  lead  to  an  improved  situation  in  the  region 
where  the  investment  has  taken  place.  This  kind  of  approach  requires  project  developers  to 
look at the medium and long-term impacts of their developments and possibly integrate in the 
design,  implementation,  monitoring  and  evaluation  of  the  project  any  corrective  measure  to 
avoid future imbalances.  

Concretely,  from  the  implementation  perspective,  a  first  step  can  take  place  at  the  ‘project 
selection’  phase  that  offers  a  clear  way  to  reinforce  the  sustainability  of  the  project.  The 
procedure itself, the assessment criteria and the evaluation play a key role in ensuring that the 
projects  adequately  address  SD  considerations.  MAs  could  consider  the  following  ways  to 
enhance inclusion of SD considerations:  

(i) include SD aspects in calls for proposals,  

(ii) tailor evaluation systems so that project proposals integrating SD are rewarded,  

(iii) introduce checklists with stringent conditions to ensure that SD is included,  

(iv) develop tender specifications for separate projects that are linked to the regional strategy 
in order to facilitate synergies between different sectors and individual projects, building on 
each other’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of SD, 

(v) develop a guide on how to enhance SD project identification and preparation. 

. 
The checklist for environmental impact assessment of project proposals in Finland87 
To  increase  the  commitment  of  the  implementing  authorities  to  undertake  environmental 
impact assessment (EIA) of project proposals eligible to ERDF support, six regions in Finland 
have  formed  EIA  panels.  The  role  of  the  panel  is  to  participate  in  and  develop  the  EIA 
processes  at  authority  level  through  dissemination  of  information  and  capacity  building 
activities.  By  appointing  EIA  managers  the  task  of  developing  the  assessment  procedure  in 
the organization and the quality assurance is enforced. One practical way forward has been a 
standardised  checklist  for  assessment  of  project  proposals  for  the  2007-2013  period. 
Assessment  concerns  all  projects  and  should  indicate  whether  a  project  is  environmentally 
neutral, beneficial or harmful. The main headlines of the assessment table are: 
1. Impact on Climate change 
2. Impacts on emissions 

87 

This project example and others are taken from the report by the European Network of Environmental 
Authorities (ENEA) on "Improving the Climate Resilience of Cohesion Policy Funding Programmes" 
available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/pdf/enea/climate_resiliance_cfr_pr.pdf 

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3. Impacts on production and consumption 
4. Impacts on the natural and built environment  
5. Impacts on people 
6. Impacts on traffic 
7. Impacts on research and training 

; 

Guide for ensuring the integration of the horizontal Environment priority (Sweden) 

A guide assisting supporting project promoters and desk officers in selecting and enhancing 
environmental  aspects  of  the  ERDF  supported  projects  has  been  developed  by  the  Swedish 
Environmental Protection Agency. The guide represents an awareness raising effort aimed at 
stimulating  greater  environmental  awareness  among  both  project  applicants,  managing 
authorities  and  selection  committees.  It  has  been  widely  accepted  and  is  now  used  by  the 
majority  of  project  applicants  to  the  ERDF.  They  are  obliged  to  describe  the  impact  of  the 
project  on  the  horizontal  priority/criteria  in  the  application  form,  responding  to  four 
compulsory questions:  
- What are the environmental objectives of the project?  
- What activities are planned in order to achieve the environmental objectives of the project?  
- What effect does the result and impacts of the project have on the environment?  
- Does the project have any impact on Natura 2000 areas? 
The  information  provided  in  the  application  is  followed  up  in  progress  reports  during  the 
implementation of the project. 

Another way to  implement a  'whole life-cycle' approach  on projects is to move towards  the 
internalisation  of  externalities.  Environmental  and  social  costs  of  projects,  i.e.  the 
externalities,  need  to  be  taken  into  account  when  assessing  investments  and  possible 
alternative options. 

A concrete way forward to be further explored is to adapt the 'Cost-Benefit Analysis' (CBA)88
of projects. The aim is to consider the key sustainable factors for the projects, and integrate 
their long-term costs such as carbon, water use, land use,  social  inclusion, etc. In the short-
term the focus on crucial factors such as carbon content or greenhouse gas emissions and their 
related costs represent a way to be further explored. The integration of the carbon factor into 
project  development  can  be  highlighted  as  a  concrete  procedure  to  significantly  foster 
sustainability  of  the  investment  co-funded  by  RP.  Future  innovations  might  enlarge  this 
approach to other important variables such as ‘land use’ or ‘water consumption’. This would 
also impact on the terms of the financial profitability of investments.  

These  various  approaches  and  instruments  are  relevant  to  RP  as  they  directly  influence  the 
decision procedure on co-financed projects and subsequently the quality of project delivery in 
terms of SD. 

Reinforced use of Green Public Procurement (GPP) 

A crucial stage of the project life cycle in terms of SD is linked to the procurement process. In 
this respect the potential of GPP as a policy instrument in addressing climate change and SD 
related  issues  is  being  increasingly  recognised.  Over  recent  years  there  has  been  a  growing 
levels.  In  a  recent 
political  commitment  at 

international,  EU  and  national 

the 

88 

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/2007/working/wd4_cost_en.pdf 

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Communication89,  the  Commission  presented  a  proposal  to  set  ambitious  targets  for  green 
public procurement (GPP) linked to specific criteria. Public authorities in Europe spend €1.5 
trillion  a  year  on  goods  and  services  equivalent  to  16%  of  EU  GDP.  Hence,  public 
procurement is a key driver to strengthen SD in various sectors. From constructing transport 
infrastructures  to  renovating  public  buildings,  and  purchasing  IT  equipment  to  the 
rehabilitation  of  brown-field  sites,  public  procurement  has  a  huge  impact  in  driving  the 
market  towards  sustainable  development.  It  is  also  crucial  in  the  development  of  eco-
innovation.  

GPP  represents  a  genuine  opportunity  and  key  instrument  in  projects  co-financed  by  RP  to 
foster  SD.  It  needs  to  be  factored  in  at  a  very  early  stage  in  project  identification  and 
preparation in order to get to a tendering procedure which fully integrates GPP requirements. 
In this respect, the Commission’s tool kit to GPP90 can be a helpful support for MAs and other 
local  and  regional  authorities  to  overcome  the  challenges  and  barriers  to  the  inclusion  and 
deployment  of  GPP.  There  are  a  number  of  other  supportive  initiatives91  in  order  to  help 
authorities  to  implement  GPP  in  the  short-term.  Spain  provides  a  good  practice  regional 
example as outlined below. 

implemented 

through  Ihobe92, 

The Green Public Procurement action plan of the Basque Country, Spain 
. 
The regional government of the Basque Country initiated a GPP Regional Action Plan (GPP 
RAP) in April 2008. In addition to boosting GPP the aim is also to show with real results how 
to  fight  climate  change  and  promote  local  economy  competitiveness,  thus,  helping  other 
regions,  provinces  or  supra-municipal  organisation  set  their  own  strategies.  The  plan  is 
developed  and 
the  Publicly  Owned  Environmental 
Management Company. The GPP RAP is especially innovative as it contributes, for instance: 
- To highlight the role and importance of Regional Governments in promoting GPP; 
- To develop a coordinated strategy with the demand and supply side of the market; 
- To show the relation between procurement activities and climate change;  
- To present real results/indicators (in CO2 and Euros) of environmental relief through GPP. 
The successful elements of the GPP RAP are: 
- Central coordination of the programme and one message from all regional public authorities; 
- Best practices within the region and direct exchange in working groups, training sessions… 
- Training courses and support in greening tender documents; 
- Communication of experiences to gain internal support and political commitment; 
- Support and preparation of the region's producer companies (supply side); 

While  regional  action  plans  can  represent  a  practical  way  forward  to  foster  GPP,  initiatives 
can also be taken at the local municipal level. The most common entry into GPP is then often 
through  the  procurement  of  office  equipment  which  can  be  quickly  extended  to  other 
categories  of  products  such  as  energy  or  cleaning  related  products.  The  following  example 
shows the room for initiative to support GPP both at regional and local level: a soft incentive 
in  the  form  of  an  open  competition  at  regional level can trigger practical implementation at 
municipal level. 

. 

89 
90 
91 

92 

COM(2008)400 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/toolkit_en.htm 
The  initiative  ‘Procura+’  from  ICLEI  is  designed  to  help  support  public  authorities  in  implementing 
Sustainable Procurement – and help promote their achievements: http://www.procuraplus.org/ 
www.ihobe.net 

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Deploying GPP in municipal offices in the Czech Republic 

A  competition  was  organised  in  2008  by  the  Hradec  Králové  region  for  environmentally-
friendly  operation  of  administrative  offices  and  organisations.  Around  350  entities  from 
towns,  municipalities  and  institutions  in  the  region  were  invited  to  take  part  in  the 
competition.  With  a  questionnaire  they  were  given  an  opportunity  during  three  months  to 
answer  questions  concerning  the  implementation  of  environmentally  friendly  operations 
within their organisations. A total of 62 institutions took part in the competition, of which 34 
were  municipal  and  city  offices.  Completed  questionnaires  were  evaluated,  and  physical 
inspections  of  the  actual  situation  were  also  carried  out  on  the  premises  of  the  20  best 
institutions.  Assessments  were  conducted  on  the  use  of  ecological  resources  which  was  the 
basis  for  purchasing  and 
lamps  and  for  adopting  other 
environmentally  friendly  measures.  For  instance  products  with  ecolabels  are  purchased  for 
running  the  office,  specifically  office  items  made  from  recycled  materials,  cleaning 
detergents,  energy-saving  fluorescent  lamps,  and  recycled  toners  for  printers.  Those 
achievements  are  part  of  the  project  "Buy  Smart"93,  funded  by  the  European  programme 
"Intelligent  Energy  Europe",  which  provides  free  consultation  and  information  material  on 
green procurement.  

installing  new,  efficient 

Overall,  the  integration  of  GPP  stimulates  local  and  regional  economic  actors  to  invest  in 
more environmentally friendly processes, services and products. It also sends a clear message 
to all local and regional stakeholders as to where priorities are and the direction in which they 
should lead their company, SME, university, research centre, etc., in order to win tenders. In 
addition  it  will  trigger  a  gradual  adaptation  of  the  skills,  knowledge  and  capacities  towards 
‘green skills’ and support innovation towards SD.  

Establishing proper indicators for monitoring and evaluation 

Monitoring  helps  set  the  basis  for  informed  policy  making  and  reinforced  SD.  Designing 
appropriate  indicators  and  collecting  data  on  a  set  of  economic,  social  and  environmentally 
related criteria provides public authorities and project promoters with the necessary data and 
information to assess programme and project SD impact.  

A first step is the setting up at national and regional level of a set of indicators informing on 
SD in general, even though not exclusively linked to RP programmes. A number of efforts are 
being  made  by  MS  and  international  organisations  to  develop  representative  headline 
indicators that can assist in measuring progress in SD. For example, Eurostat94 has developed 
a  number  of  such  indicators  that  reflect  the  priority  areas  identified  in  the  EU  sustainable 
development  strategies.  In  addition,  the  Communication  'GDP  and  beyond-Measuring 
progress in a changing world'95, suggests the development of a SD scoreboard with up-to-date 
data that better reflects the concerns of citizens and recent developments such as governance 
and sustainable production and consumption. 

Against  this  background,  the  contribution  of  RP  supported  investments  could  be  traced 
through  specific  indicators  at  the  appropriate  level.  For  example,  regarding  the  reduction  of 
greenhouse  gas  emissions,  54  programmes  out  of  410  in  the  current  programming  period 
make provision for such indicators. This is a right step that needs to be replicated across all 

93 
94 
95 

http://www.buy-smart.info 
Measuring progress towards a more sustainable Europe: SD indicators for the EU, data 1990-2005 
COM(2009) 433 final of 20.08.2009 

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relevant  programmes.  Nevertheless,  GHG  emissions  are  only  one  element,  of  the 
environmental pillar of SD. Other indicators (such as waste per inhabitant, energy intensity, 
water consumption per inhabitant) should complement an SD monitoring framework that can 
be  consolidated  for  regional  SD  scoreboards.  The  same  applies  to  poverty  and  social 
exclusion, ageing society, public health or good governance themes that are also part of the 
SD strategy. 

Even  if  such  indicators  have  not  been  defined  in  current  programmes,  identifying  and 
establishing  them  now  will  provide  a  baseline  for  future  programmes.  MA  and  regional 
authorities could also start to build on existing forms of monitoring with a view to develop a 
comprehensive monitoring framework such as in the following Bulgarian example. 

Monitoring  and  evaluation  of  environmental  issues  in  regional  development:  the 
example of Bulgaria 

The project 'Integrating Global Environmental Issues into Bulgaria’s Regional Development 
Process' (Rio Conventions Project)96 is a joint initiative of the United Nations Development 
Program  (UNDP),  the  Bulgarian  Ministry  of  Regional  Development  and  Public  Works 
(MRDPW)  and  the  Ministry  of  Environment  and  Water  (MoEW),  financed  by  the  Global 
Environmental Facility (GEF). The project supports the integration of three UN conventions 
(on biodiversity, climate change and combating desertification) into regional development and 
spatial  planning  processes  in  Bulgaria.  The  objective  is  to  strengthen  the  capacities  of 
MRDPW  and  MoEW  for  mainstreaming  global  environment  into  the  formulation  and 
implementation  of  regional  and  local  development,  as  well  as  spatial  planning  policies. 
Specific indicators, training courses and a prototype application for a geographic information 
system (GIS) were developed. Seven specific strategic indicators were proposed to MoEW to 
be  approved  as  part  of  the  MRDPW  monitoring  system  to  assess  the  impact  of  regional 
development plans on climate change, biodiversity and land desertification. Those indicators 
were also officially included by MRDPW in guidelines to be used by district and municipal 
administrations.  

Monitoring  such  SD  indicators  will  provide  helpful  information  for  decision  makers  at 
regional or local level regarding key sustainability criteria. Nevertheless, the Strategic Report 
2010  on  the  implementation  of  the  2007-13  programmes  indicates  clear  scope  for 
improvement in this area, with insufficient progress at this stage in data collection.  

Another approach is the development of modelling systems which assess carbon emissions of 
certain  type  of  investments,  based  on  the  information  collected  from  selected  indicators. 
These  models  support  decision-making  either  on  the  proposed  investments  themselves  to 
avoid  CO2  emissions  or  on  palliative  investments  to  compensate  the  emissions  of  other 
projects.  The  aim  is  to  help  reduce  the  CO2  emissions  at  programme  level.  The  example 
below illustrates the use of a simulation tool to achieve these objectives97.  

The example of the French software as a carbon management tool 

The National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) provided by France for the 2007-2013 
operational programmes of Cohesion Policy states that “all State-region project contracts and 

96 
97 

http://www.rioconventions.org/ 
http://www.datar.gouv.fr/IMG/Fichiers/DEVELOPPEMENT_DURABLE/Necater_presentation.pdf 

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operational programmes should aim to be carbon neutral. A monitoring system will be put in 
place to ensure this." A private company was commissioned to provide an IT system which 
enables regional authorities to make ex-ante assessment of the carbon impact of the regional 
development  plans  as  well  as  monitoring  the  carbon  impact  (ex-post  evaluations)  at 
programme level. Based on the available national and regional statistics, the system turns the 
planned investments in Euros into CO2 quantities thus playing decision support tool role of. 
The CO2 emissions are calculated not only during the duration of the operational programme 
but  also  during  and  following  project  implementation.  Once  projects  are  implemented,  the 
values or parameters can replace the funding amounts to refine the monitoring. In addition the 
use of this tool has a broad pedagogic aspect since it develops a "carbon culture" within the 
public planning authorities. The majority of the regions now have a good or very good track 
record  in  using  this  instrument  and  the  provider  has  developed  a  new  system  which  works 
also at project level. 

2) Checking investments against climate resilience and resource efficiency 

To deliver more qualitative projects in terms of SD, two methods of addressing programme 
and project development and implementation need to be considered by MAs:  

(i) the climate resilience of their undertakings, 

(ii) their resource efficiency.  

Taking  them  into  account  will  provide  enhanced  sustainability  and  a  competitive  advantage 
for their economies. 

Screening operational programmes and projects for climate resilience 

The  impacts  of  climate  change  pose  an  unprecedented  challenge  to  public  policies  and 
investments. While the current understanding of climate impact is still imperfect, policies and 
projects which risk to be directly or indirectly influenced by weather patterns can no longer be 
defined  only  according  to  past  data  and  statistics  but  need  to  include  the  predicted  changed 
conditions  of  the  future.  In  this  light  the  current  policy  choices  regarding  sensitive  sectors 
such  as  agriculture,  energy  or  water  resources,  and  investment  choices,  for  example,  in 
infrastructure projects, will greatly influence the ability of regions to react to future climate 
change  impacts.  Since  RP  supports  investments  which  will  have  a  influence  on  local  and 
regional development for decades to come, their climate resilience needs to be looked at.  

Therefore, there is a need for decision-making on policy and investment choices to ensure that 
climate resilience is built in.  

To  achieve  this  goal,  the  outlined  measures  and  strategies  in  this  working  document  will 
contribute to building adaptive capacity and avoiding the potential adverse consequences that 
new  investments  may  have  on  the  vulnerability  of  existing  ecosystems.  It  means  that  EU 
regions  and  cities  need  adequate  information  on  climate  change,  the  supportive  social 
structure  and  the  adequate  governance  mechanisms  as  a  foundation  in  a  first  instance  for 
delivering  adaptation  actions  that  directly  help  to  reduce  vulnerability  to  climate  risks  or 
exploit opportunities. 

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30 

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All  those  options  can  be  enshrined  in  ‘Regional  Climate  Adaptation  Strategies'.  The  White 
Paper98 on adaptation to climate change encourages EU regions to design such strategies by 
2012. Those strategies are by nature ‘place-based’ and  predominantly built around the  local 
and regional socio-economic and environmental conditions. However, RP can provide support 
for  the  development  of  those  strategies  for  which  regions  can  make  use  of  the  recently 
developed guidelines99. In coastal areas, LRAs are encouraged to build on the developments 
of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)100

 .  

In practical terms a range of potential options should be evaluated in order to select the best 
possible measures to build climate resilience at local and regional level. The focus in the short 
term  has  to  be  on  options  often  referred  to  as  'no-regrets',  'low-regrets'  and  'win-win-win' 
options. 

"No-regret" options are adaptive projects whose socio-economic benefits exceed their costs 
whatever  the  magnitude  of  future  climate  change.  It  includes  actions  that  are  already  cost-
effective  under  the  current  climate  conditions  and  would  be  further  justified  under  the 
increased risks of projected climate change. In short 'no-regret measures' are the guarantee of 
the best possible return on investments in terms of SD. Therefore a public investment policy 
such  as  RP  is  well  placed  to  yield  further  support  to  those  types  of  preventive  measures. 
Avoiding building in flood plains or reducing leakage from drinking water pipes are examples 
of "no-regret" options to build climate resilience. 

"Low-regret"  options  include  adaptive  measures  with  relatively  low  associated  costs  and 
potentially  large  benefits  under  the  future  climate  conditions.  Investments  in  preserving 
natural areas in support of biodiversity goals, creating green urban areas or the development 
of green roofs as shown in the Greek example below can be part of those options. Planning 
for  future  retro-fitting  of  investments,  especially  for  certain  type  of  infrastructure,  is  also  in 
certain cases a low-regret measure. Both no and low-regret options will maximise the return 
on investment as the associated risk is low. 

Green roofs for improved climate resilient building and cities 
The Greek Ministry of Finance inaugurated in September 2008 a green roof on the building of 
its Treasury in Athens. The green roof covers 650m², equalling 52% of the roof space and 8% 
of the total floor space. Studies of the thermodynamics of the roof concluded that the thermal 
performance of the building was positively affected by the installation. In August 2009 energy 
savings of 50% were observed for air conditioning in the floor directly below the installation. 
Energy savings totalling €5,630 per annum were reco rded, which translates to a 9% saving in 
air conditioning and a 4% saving in heating bills for the whole building. Beyond the energy 
aspect, green roofs have many potential benefits including: 
- Controlling storm-water runoff, thus reducing urban flooding after heavy rain 
- Providing green space in cities 
- Creating wildlife habitat 
- Improving water quality  
- Mitigating urban heat-island effects  
- Prolonging the service life of roofing materials  
- Reducing sound reflection and transmission  
- Conserving energy (less energy for heating and cooling) 

98 
99 
100 

COM(2009) 147 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/adaptation/pdf/RAS%20Final%20Report.pdf 
COM(2007)308 

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With limited additional investment, the co-benefits are therefore numerous and long lasting. 

A 'win-win' option stands for measures which minimise the climate risks but have also other 
social, environmental or economic advantages. Relevant projects address climate impacts but 
can also contribute for instance to mitigation of climate change: increasing energy efficiency 
in  buildings  proves  to  be  an  investment  with  high  return  in  any  event:  better  insulated 
buildings offer improved protection against current and future heat and cold waves and also in 
the  meantime  reduces  demand  for  heating  and  cooling,  thus  cutting  energy  bills  and  CO2 
emissions. An integrated approach to the development or re-development of a threatened area 
can  also  be  build  around  win-win  options  such  as  in  the  following  example  on  climate 
resilience of a coastal zone... 

Adaptation of an infrastructure to climate impacts in coastal areas, France  
On  the  French  Mediterranean  coast  the  "lido  de  Sète"101  is  a  12  km  long  coastal  zone  with 
high  environmental  value,  several  key  socio-economic  activities  and  important  transport 
infrastructures  (rail  and  road).  It  has  to  cope  with  severe  coastal  erosion  and  high  tourism 
pressure threatening the sustainability of the whole area, including the coastal road which was 
regularly damaged. The decision was made by the competent national and regional authorities 
to invest € 60 million with the support of the ER DF for a major shift in the management of 
this area, taking into account adaptation to climate change and SD: 
- the existing road will be destroyed and reconstructed further away from the beach; 
- the beach and existing natural areas will be restored and newly protected (dunes, dikes); 
- park places for cars will be regulated and made impossible close to the beach; 
-  soft  transport  modes  to  the  beach  will  be  developed  (bus  shuttles  to  the  cities,  bicycle 
lanes…);  
- three type of beaches (all accessible to disabled people) will be created: a central "natural 
beach", two "semi-natural beaches" with basic facilities and two "urban beaches"; 
-  economic  activities  (a  research  laboratory,  one  SME,  wine-growing,  a  camping)  are 
maintained in the new architecture of the coast; 
This integrated redevelopment of the coast fulfils social, economic and environmental goals. 

EU regions should take account of the 'climate dimension' of their development programmes 
and projects in order to improve their climate resilience. In addition it can be turned from a 
defensive approach into new opportunities for socio-economic development. 

Investing in the most resource efficient options 

The  flagship  initiative  of  "Europe  2020"  on  a  "resource  efficient  Europe"  has  put  resource 
efficiency under the spotlight in the context of a "resource constrained world". A number of 
other  recent  policy  developments  in  the  EU  such  as  the  Action  Plan  on  "sustainable 
production  and  consumption"102,  the  EU  "Raw  material  initiative"103  or  the  "Lead  Market 
Initiative  for  Europe"104  have  also  underlined  the  increasing  pressure  on  resources.  In  this 
framework the policies aiming at SD, such as RP, need to reinforce the focus of programmes 
and measures on enhancing resource efficiency. The message of "Europe 2020" is a bold one 
in this perspective: the crucial role of structural funds to support this shift towards a resource 
efficient and low-carbon economy is clearly underlined.  

101 
102 
103 
104 

http://www.pole-lagunes.org/ftp/dossier%20de%20presse%20lido%20sete.pdf 
COM(2008) 397 final 
COM(2008) 699 
COM(2007) 860 final 

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Two key areas for the improvement of resource efficiency and of direct concern for RP are 
waste  and  water  management.  RP  has  provided  significant  investments  in  those  areas  over 
several programming periods. Nowadays they also represent an important economic sector in 
the EU under the heading of "eco-industry"105, provide jobs and basic environmental services. 
Therefore EU co-funded projects on waste and water play an important role in SD at regional 
level. Indeed, a significant share of the Major Projects106 actually concern water supply, waste 
water  treatment  or  waste  management.  The  EU  has  set  a  stringent  legislative  framework  in 
both  sectors  with  mandatory  targets107.  The  deadlines  to  meet  the  requirements  of  those 
Directives  can  be  addressed  as  true  opportunities  for  the  regions  to  improve  their 
competitiveness, the state of the environment, tackle health issues and create jobs. 

A  fundamental  element  of  the  recently  revised  directive  on  Waste108  is  the  legally  binding 
new  five  step  'waste  hierarchy'.  It  highlights  the  preferred  options  to  be  considered  when 
designing  waste  management  projects,  i.e.  waste  prevention  first,  then  preparing  for  reuse, 
followed  by  recycling,  other  recovery  such  as  energy  recovery  and  finally  disposal.  Any 
investment  supported  by  RP  in  waste  management  projects  should  therefore  be  assessed 
against this framework to avoid a narrow approach only focused on the specific project itself. 
The  revised  Waste  Directive  also  strengthens  the  existing  provisions  on  waste  management 
plans  and  introduces  waste  prevention  programmes.  But  with  the  revised  directive,  waste 
management  plans  will  now  have  to  give  a  clear  priority  to  waste  prevention  and  recycling 
over other options. Regions can address this development as a true opportunity to create green 
jobs and capitalise on waste prevention and recycling projects to develop co-benefits as in the 
example below. In addition waste prevention and recycling make an important contribution to 
cutting GHG emissions from waste and therefore help meeting the EU 2020 climate targets.  

Integrated recycling, composting and biogas plant in Sant'Antnin, Malta 
The waste treatment plant of Sant'Antnin received €16.7 million EU in co-financing from the 
Cohesion Fund in support of upgrading the plant and acquiring modern technology as follows:  
-  Material  Recovery  Facility  for  the  manual  sorting  of  dry  recyclable  waste  recovered  by 
separation at source, including products received from the Bring-in Sites; 
- Mechanical Treatment Plant (MTP) to mechanically separate the municipal waste received 
to prepare the organic fraction for further processing; 
-  Composting  Plant,  treating  the  source-separated  biodegradable  waste  and  mechanically 
sorted biodegradable waste from the MTP in order to produce biogas and digested material to 
be used as compost; 
- Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP), which will run on the produced biogas and return 
electrical power enough for 1,400 households of 4 persons each, besides the heat required to 
run the plant; 

105 

106 
107 

108 

Ernst & Young, Eco-industry, its size, employment, perspectives and barriers to growth in an enlarged 
EU, August 2006; "The estimated total turnover of eco-industries in the EU-25 is €227 billion, of which 
€214,000 million corresponds to the EU-15 area. In constant prices, the turnover of the eco industries 
grew  around  7%  between  1999  and  2004  (for  the  EU-15  area)"[…]  "The  total  direct  and  indirect 
employment  due  to  eco-industries  represent  approximately  3.4  million  full-time  job  equivalents,  of 
which  2.3  million  jobs  are  from  pollution  management  activities.  Resource  management  activities 
represent  approximately  1  million  full-time  job  equivalents.  The  majority  (77%)  of  the  jobs  in  the 
pollution management activities are in the waste water treatment and solid waste management sectors" 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/eco_industry/pdf/ecoindustry2006_summary.pdf 
Projects worth more than € 50 million 
Directive  2008/98/EC  on  waste  (Waste  Framework  Directive)  and  EU  Water  Framework  Directive 
(Directive 2000/60/EC) 
Directive 2008/98/EC of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives 

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With  this  upgrade,  the  plant  annually  processes  and  treats  36,000  tonnes  of  dry  recyclables 
and 35,000 tonnes of organic waste mainly resulting from the municipal waster produced by 
residents in the vicinity. 
. 

Building on the EU Water Framework Directive, RP invests massively into the water sector 
such as in the management of drinking water. As for waste, investments in drinking water can 
be  placed  into  a  hierarchy  of  options  based  on  the  water  hierarchy  laid  down  in  the 
Commission's  Communication  on  water  scarcity  and  droughts109.  Water  savings,  increased 
efficiency  in  water  utilisation,  water  pricing  policy  or  cost-effective  measures  on  demand 
management  should  be  undertaken  first.  Other  alternatives  such  as  planning  for  additional 
water  supply  infrastructure  should  only  be  considered  when  those  first  options  have  been 
exhausted. At project level, local solutions such as reducing leakage in pipes, installing rain-
water collectors or re-use of recycled water are practical ways forward. In addition, in water 
scarce  regions  it  is  paramount  to  engage  in  a  wider  systemic  reflexion  on  the  overall 
sustainability of regional water systems.  

In the medium-term, RP could build further on the principle of recovery of the costs of water 
services,  which  are  mandatory  to  MS  since  the  end  of  2010,  and  align  funding  for  water 
projects with an effective implementation of this principle.  

Eventually, the approach of investments in terms of a preference of options enables co-funded 
projects to maximise their added-value as it looks for the most efficient balance between the 
economic,  social  and  environmental  objectives.  Furthermore,  it  is  a  good  example  for 
national,  regional  and  local  authorities  as  well  as  projects  applicants  to  engage  in  SD  for 
projects which do not get EU funding. 

3) Better Governance 

Europe 2020's objectives will be achieved more effectively if use of structural and cohesion 
funds  is  part  of  a  broader  policy  framework  providing  the  necessary  legal  certainty  and 
appropriate  incentives.  In  practice  this  means  that  regional  policy  programmes  and  projects 
should be accompanied by changes in the regulatory and administrative framework. 

Broaden partnerships and reinforce the strategic content of Monitoring Committees 

As  underlined  in  a  resolution  of  the  European  Parliament110  regarding  governance  and 
partnership for projects in the sphere of RP, governance is a crucial building block to achieve 
SD.  They  are  interconnected  because  they  transcend  the  competencies  of  individual  line 
ministries  as  well  as  the  vertical  tiers  of  jurisdictions,  from  supranational  institutions  to 
municipal  authorities.  In  addition,  successful  experiences 
in  policy  delivery  have 
demonstrated  that  a  proper  representation  of  socio-economic  partners  (for  example,  the 
business community, trade unions, consumer associations, universities and the training sector, 
NGOs…) has to be taken into account when designing and implementing SD.  

The  ex-post  evaluation111  of  the  governance  systems  for  Cohesion  Policy  during  the  2000-
2006  period  confirms  that  these  systems  are  fit-for-purpose  to  deliver  SD.  The  evaluation 

109 
110 

111 

COM(2007) 414 final 
Own-initiative  report  by  the  European  Parliament,  2008/2064(INI),  Governance  and  partnership  at  a 
national, regional and project basis in the field of Regional Policy; 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/evaluation/rado2_en.htm 

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noted  that  across  the  EU  initiatives  were  being  taken  to  incorporate  SD  concerns  into 
programme  design  and  management.  It  facilitated  the  balanced  consideration  of  economic, 
social and environmental factors. Rather than treating the different dimensions of sustainable 
development  in  a  separate  manner,  some  MS  considered  how  they  interact  and  benefit  and 
potentially  compromise  each  another  so  that  programme  and  project  activities  integrate 
economic growth, employment generation, social cohesion and environmental improvement. 
Particularly  important  was  a  cross-sectoral  approach  in  partnership-building,  bringing 
together an appropriate range of expertise with horizontal and vertical interaction and shared 
decision-making that facilitated institutional learning and associated organisational change.  

One of the most significant challenges of SD governance is to establish mechanisms to ensure 
effective horizontal policy integration, i.e. across sectors, at the different administrative levels 
(national/regional/local:  vertical  policy  integration)  which  means  developing  a  kind  of 
"diagonal policy integration"112. 

SD  design  and  implementation  can  benefit  from  an  inter-ministerial  structure  instead  of 
depending on one sectoral ministry or department. The following example illustrates the SD 
governance approach followed in France. 

Inclusion of territorial authorities and socio-economic partners to strengthen SD 

In June 2003 a new sustainable development governance structure was established in France 
with the creation of an "Inter-ministerial Committee for SD". It manages the SD policy of the 
French  Government  and  looks  also  at  the  coherence  of  the  actions  of  the  different  line 
ministries. This Committee is managed by an 'inter-ministerial delegate' who reports directly 
to the Prime Minister. It adopted the national strategy on SD in June 2003 (updated in 2007) 
which was developed in coordination with the "national council on SD" bringing together 90 
representatives of the socio-economic area, civil society and the territorial authorities. In order 
to further engage regional and local authorities on SD, the Ministry in charge of SD launched 
in 2006 "calls for acknowledgment of territorial SD strategies": local and regional authorities 
are encouraged to submit their SD strategies or 'Agenda 21'113 to the Ministry to get an official 
acknowledgment of their quality. In order to boost SD in France a vast national initiative114 
was  launched  in  July  2007.  Five  categories  of  stakeholders  including  territorial  authorities 
were involved in an extensive consultation process around six thematic working groups. The 
conclusions of those working groups were taken over by "operational committees", including 
one  on  the  territorial  aspect  of  SD.  They  came  up  with  concrete  proposals  that  were  turned 
into a new law adopted by the French Parliament in August 2009.  

The  partnership  principle  underpins  RP  and  constitutes  an  essential  tool  for  improved 
governance.  The  RP  regulations  leave  room  for  national  practices  in  the  application  of  the 
principle.  It  is  important  to  underline  the  benefit  that  partnership  adds  to  the  sustainable 
development of programmes and projects. The involvement of civil society in public policies 
works  best  when  it  starts  from  the  beginning  (design  stage)  and  lasts  throughout  the  whole 
programme cycle. It is essential for creating ownership and consensus among the stakeholders 
that  drive  project  implementation  and  the  wider  public  thus  fostering  public  acceptance. 
Mobilisation  of  civil  society  goes  hand  in  hand  with  a  bottom-up  approach  to  project 

112 

113 
114 

European  Sustainable  Development  Network  (ESDN),  Quarterly  Report  June  2009,  http://www.sd-
network.eu/?k=quarterly%20reports&report_id=13 
http://www.agenda21france.org/ 
"Grenelle de l'Environnement" http://www.legrenelle-environnement.gouv.fr/ 

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development  strongly  encouraging  the  population  to  participate  from  the  beginning.  Civil 
society inclusion is also key driver for social inclusion. In addition, co-financed projects may 
require mandatory environmental assessments. It implies a mandatory public consultation on 
project  developments.  In  this  aspect,  following  the  spirit  of  the  Aarhus  Convention115, 
national and regional authorities have further room of manoeuvre to build on the richness and 
diversity of civil society bodies when dealing with SD topics. 

To enhance partnership, MAs can take a number of initiatives to further involve and commit 
the  civil  society.  In  particular,  Monitoring  Committees  could  benefit  from  a  more  active 
involvement of the socio-economic partners. They could be involved in the establishment of 
the  meetings'  agenda  and  in  discussions  requesting  clarifications  on  issues  of  their  direct 
interest. The Committees need to review periodically progress in meeting the stated objectives 
for  the  strategy  and  operational  programmes,  as  well  as  the  possible  need  to  revise  them, 
agreeing on the corrective measures needed. Active participation of programmes stakeholders 
will  contribute  to  more  effective  exchanges  and  provide  feedback  for  fine-tuning  the 
programmes'  orientations.  RP  can  contribute  to  reinforce  the  capacity  building  of  these 
partners, such as in the example below. 

Increasing capacity building of socio-economic partners in Slovenia 

Lack  of  capacity  amongst  NGOs  in  Slovenia  was  seen  as  a  barrier  to  the  effective 
implementation  of  the  partnership  principle  in  the  2004-2006  period.  As  a  consequence,  a 
specific  priority  to  develop  NGOs  was  established  in  the  ESF  Operational  Programme 
'Human  Resource  Development'  in  Slovenia.  Around  €  13  million  has  been  allocated  to 
improving the management, organisation and development capacities of NGOs working with 
vulnerable  groups.  This  led  to  the  Centre  for  Information  Service,  Cooperation  and 
Development of NGOs, (CNVOS) being selected after a public call to support NGOs in the 
Structural Funds programmes. CNVOS was established in 2001. The aim of its 27 founding 
organisations is to empower NGOs in Slovenia and to promote their role as an important part 
of  civil  society.  Over  200  organisations  have  now  joined  CNVOS  which  supports  NGOs  in 
their engagement in the CP and selects NGO representatives to participate in the Monitoring 
Committees of the Structural and Cohesion Funds. 

The  following  good  practice  example  from  Germany  illustrates  an  interesting  approach  to 
further engage local administrative levels in the implementation of regional strategies. 

Engaging local authorities in regional strategies  

The regional government of North-Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany adopted in early 2009 
a  regional  strategy  on  adaptation  to  climate  change.  In  order  to  get  broad  involvement  at 
municipal level of the regional authorities organised an open competition "Aktion Klimaplus – 
NRW-Klimakommune der Zukunft" for local municipalities who were encouraged to develop 
their own strategy and measures in the frame of the wider regional strategy. The two winners 
were  rewarded  with  significant  regional  funding  in  order  to  implement  their  projects.  The 
competition was an innovative way to publicise the strategy and stimulate creativity and new 
ideas on adaptation to climate change as well as ownership of the strategy at local level. In 
addition,  as  an  un-planned  consequence  of  the  competition  and  a  positive  side  effect,  a 

115 

UN Economic Commission for Europe, "Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in 
Decision-making  and  Access  to  Justice  in  Environmental  Matters,  known  as  'Aarhus  Convention', 
25/06/98 

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network of more than 20 cities and municipalities emerged after the competition. It has been 
officially structured by the municipalities themselves to accompany the uptake of the regional 
strategy  at  local  level.  In  an  upcoming  development  it  is  planned  to  work  with  schools  to 
further publicise the strategy and raise awareness among the population. 

Another approach improving governance is the use of networks or platforms. The creation of 
cross-cutting  networks  to  promote  environmental  policy  integration  and  more  largely 
sustainability is an efficient way to engage with a broad range of stakeholders in a structured 
manner.  It  also  gives  the  possibility  to  address  the  issue  of  vertical  integration.  National 
strategies  on  adaptation  to  climate  change  or  on  SD  can  be  reinforced  through  better 
involvement of sub-national authorities. For instance, many MS have established sub-national 
level ‘councils’, ‘committees’, ‘commissions’ or ‘working groups’ on SD. Local ‘Agenda 21’ 
initiatives  represent  also  a  concrete  and  powerful  way  forward  to  use  platforms  as  building 
block for improved governance.  

Networking of environmental authorities in Italy 

For  the  period  2000-06  the  Italian  Network  (Rete)  gathered  representatives  from  the 
environmental sector as well as from MAs. The network was intended to be a place for public 
sector experts to work together. These public sector experts were the national environmental 
authority (Ministry of Environment), the national managing authorities (Ministry of Economic 
Development,  current  Ministry  of  Economy  and  Finance),  other  central  and  regional 
Managing  Authorities,  environmental  authorities,  the  statistical  agency  and  the  two  main 
involvement  of  NGOs, 
environmental  agencies  (Apat  and  ARPA).  Regarding 
environmental  NGOs  were  present  in  all  Steering  Committees  of  the  OPs,  as  well  as  in  the 
Monitoring Committee of the NSRF, having a consultative role. In the present period (2007-
2013)  NGOs  are  within  the  socio-economic  partnership  and  explicitly  mentioned  together 
with  other  stakeholders  (enterprise  associations,  trade  unions,  third  sector  associations, 
charities and not-for-profit organisations, and equal opportunities organisations). The role of 
this economic-social partnership is defined as important as regards the NSRF, and therefore to 
be  applied  in  programming,  implementation,  monitoring  and  evaluation.  Spain,  Poland, 
United Kingdom, Germany, Greece are some of the Member States that have also developed a 
national  network  with  the  Managing  Authorities  in  order  to  deal  with  the  environmental 
sector. 

the 

Encouraging more public-private partnerships and exploring innovative approaches to 
financing 

Public  Private  Partnerships  (PPPs)  offer  another  opportunity  to  explore  for  further  ways  to 
improve governance. Under RP, most experiences with PPPs are in the field of public service 
infrastructures.  Nevertheless  PPPs  are  due  to  become  more  numerous  and  diverse,  not  least 
because  of  the  economic  and  financial  crisis.  Each  PPP  project  offers  an  opportunity  to 
integrate governance for SD and enlarge the partnership to other stakeholders such as NGOs 
who  are  often  keen  to  participate.  In  this  framework  an  efficient  way  to  enhance  the 
sustainability  of  projects  can  be  to  commit  formal  cross-sectoral  bodies,  such  as  Steering 
Groups,  to  ensure  that  projects  are  linked  to  the  SD  objectives  of  core  planning  documents 
such  as  master  plans  or  development  strategies.  Those  bodies  imposed  on  the  project 
promoters  may  be  accountable  to  the  MA.  They  are  also  an  opportunity  to  improve  the 
governance  of  the  project  as  socio-economic  and  civil  society  partners,  along  with  civil 
servants and experts representing authorities and the project promoters can be included. The 
following example illustrates the point.  

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. 

Promoting SD through partnership, Newquay Cornwall Airport, UK 

In  order  to  ensure  that  environmental  sustainability  remains  core  to  the  development  of 
Newquay  Cornwall  airport,  co-funded  by  the  ERDF,  the  Cornwall  Council  has  prepared  a 
variety  of  master  planning  documents.  These  documents  have  helped  shape  the  airport's 
commitment to carbon neutrality: they aim to deliver carbon neutrality for its entire terminal 
and ground operations by 2015 and be carbon neutral in terms of aviation and surface access 
by  2030.  It  includes  initiatives  such  as  converting  all  ground  vehicles  to  run  on  electricity, 
installation of wind turbines, energy saving initiatives and enhanced recycling, bio-diesel taxi 
fleet  and  enhanced  public  transport,  etc.  The  MA  felt  it  best  to  work  with  the  Cornwall 
Council  in  establishing  a  'World-Class  Newquay  Cornwall  Airport  Environmental  Steering 
Group', which would provide expertise and help shape the concrete delivery of the airport’s 
strategic environmental goals. This Steering Group, imposed on the Airport Delivery Team, 
as  part  of  a  contract  condition  of  ERDF  investment  will  ensure  that  there  is  on-going  input 
and challenge from the environmental sector (via the Steering Group) in ensuring and helping 
Newquay  Cornwall  Airport  deliver  the  highest  possible  standards  of  environmental 
sustainability.  Thus,  the  decisions  to  deliver  a  'whole-project'  approach  to  environmental 
sustainability  is  core  to  the  airport’s  development  objectives  and  helps  develop  and  embed 
environmental sustainability into non-ERDF funded investments. 

Further  PPPs  can  be  a  solution  to  trigger  investments  into  cutting-edge  technologies, 
leveraging  public  funds  such  as the  ERDF.  It  may  be  especially  fruitful  in  the  case  of  pilot 
projects to demonstrate the feasibility of new developments. 

Public private partnership for the fuel cell hub in West Denmark 

'Hydrogen Link West Denmark'116 is a public private partnership project between more than 
20 various actors on development and pilot testing of hydrogen filling stations and fuel cell 
hybrid  vehicles  in  a  number  of  West  Danish  cities  with  a  total  budget  of  more  than  €1.8 
million. The project was initiated in April 2006.The aim of the project is to develop and test 
fuel  cell  hybrid  vehicles.  As  part  of  the  project,  research,  development  and  pilot  testing  of 
smaller fuel cell hybrid vehicles and hydrogen filling stations will be implemented in several 
cities. The hydrogen for the project is based on inexpensive wind power electricity from an 
electrolytic  hydrogen  generator  at  a  local  energy  company  and  distributed  to  a  number  of 
hydrogen filling stations. Seven various fuel cell  hybrid vehicles will be put in operation in 
the cities at the various end-users. This project is co-financed by the ERDF 

As  a  further  step,  financial  engineering  instruments  should  be  considered  to  achieve  better 
leverage of the limited resources available. Much greater use should be made within regional 
policy of JEREMIE or JESSICA117 as well as learning from other instruments such as Risk-
Sharing Finance Facility used in the EU framework research programmes. 

. 

. 

116 
117 

http://www.hydrogenlink.net/vestjylland/HydrogenLink_West-Denmark_Brochure.pdf 
Article 44 of Regulation 1083/2006 

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Reaping the full benefits of actions across borders 

Regions should invest in sustainable growth through the integration of policies affecting EU 
territories and seas, especially coastal zones and river basins with high biodiversity potential. 
Co-operation  between  Member  States  and  regions  on  coherent  sets  of  actions  and  within 
specific territorial or maritime areas, such as sea basins, would bring additional value added.  

In  particular,  MAs  should  take  full  advantage  of  the  opportunities  offered  by  cross-border, 
interregional and transnational co-operation in line with the new territorial cohesion objective 
introduced by the Lisbon Treaty. The Baltic Sea and the Danube Strategies illustrate the value 
of action at macro regional level.  

. 

Conclusions 

The  Communication  "Regional  Policy  contributing  to  sustainable  growth  in  Europe  2020" 
together  with  this  Staff  Working  Document  sets  out  some  of  the  principles  underpinning  a 
realignment  of  current  RP  programmes  in  support  of  the  "Europe  2020"  sustainable  growth 
objectives.  The  resource  efficient  Europe  of  the  future  requires  all  decision  makers  to  take 
action now, and many of these decisions will fall at local and regional level.  

It is therefore a call to action by EU, national, regional and local authorities to use available 
funds to promote sustainable growth in every European region.  

The aim is twofold: 

Firstly, to encourage an optimal use of and, if justified, a reallocation of regional funds with a 
view  to  meeting  the  resource  efficiency  objectives  of  the  Europe  2020  strategy.  This  will 
require  a  concerted  effort  by  all  stakeholders  to  accelerate  the  pace  of  implementation  of 
planned  actions  and  a  debate  on  realigning  developmental  priorities,  as  well  as  to  step  up 
efforts  to  mainstream  the  SD  principles  into  day-to-day  operation  of  programmes  and 
projects. 

Secondly,  the  Commission  strongly  encourages  Managing  Authorities  to  use  the  remaining 
years  of  the  current  programming  period  to  prepare  the  ground  for  EU  RP  funds  to  play  a 
major role in sustainable growth and resource efficiency in the future. This may require new 
or adjusted instruments, management methods and governance structures: 

Here  further  consideration  shall  be  given  to  establishing  a  stronger  conditionality  to  the 
allocation and use of CP funds linked to objectives and targets set in priority EU policy areas. 

At national level, Member States are encouraged:  

•  To  realign  expenditure  within  existing  programmes  priorities  to  boost  the  transition  to 
resource  efficient  and  low-carbon  economy  and  examine  the  need  for  programme 
modifications, drawing on complementary support offered by Rural Development Policy, 
the  LIFE+  programme,  7th  R&D  Framework  Programme  and  the  Competitiveness  and 
Innovation Programme as regards: 

•  Energy efficiency, renewable energy and de-carbonising transport; 

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•  Ecosystem services, in particular protection of biodiversity, adaptation to climate 

change and natural disaster prevention; 

•  Eco-innovation support through clusters and ICT services and applications.  

•  To  ensure  the  systemic  integration  of  the  sustainability  principles  in  each  step  of  the 

project life-cycle with particular attention to increase resource efficiency; 

•  To address climate change in their territorial planning, including local, regional and macro-
regional strategies involving supranational areas linked to sea or river basins in particular. 

•  To  carry  out  specific  evaluations  and  to  include  a  dedicated  section  within  the  Annual 
Implementation  Reports  of  their  Operational  Programmes  to  assess  the  extent  to  which 
Regional  Policy  supported  programmes  match 
this 
Communication; 

the  guidelines  set  out 

in 

•  To  consider,  in  the  context  of  the  National  Reform  Programmes,  the  flexibility  being 
offered  within  the  Operational  Programmes  to  reorient  regional  policy  funding  towards 
Europe 2020 priorities; 

•  To begin preparation for the next generation of programmes in terms of: 

•  A  greater  thematic  focus  on  green  investment  and  a  shift  to  a  low  carbon  and 
climate  resilient  economy  while  ensuring  an  integrated  approach  to  sustainable 
urban  and/or  rural  development,  and  fully  taking  into  account  the  territorial 
context and opportunities; 

•  Capacity  building,  using  technical  assistance  budgets,  to  involve  local,  regional 
and NGO actors in regional climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. 

At EU level, The Commission commits to swift consideration and support to any request for 
reprogramming for funding towards Europe 2020 priorities and will work: 

•  With  International  and  national  financial  institutions  to  leverage  resources  and,  as 
appropriate, maximise the use of financial instruments, including a more intensive use of 
JEREMIE  and  JESSICA.  There  will  be  a  particular  focus  on  sustainable  energy  in 
residential buildings to build on the recent amendments to Structural Funds regulations; 

•  With  the  relevant  authorities  in  the  Member  States  and  regions  to  develop  targeted  pilot 

initiatives and seminars to deploy proposals outlined in this Communication; 

•  To  assist  national  and  regional  authorities  with  thematic  expertise  in  the  implementation 

and monitoring of programmes; 

•  To  mobilise  the  available  resources  in  existing  Operational  programmes  to  build  up 
institutional  capacity  in  order  to  ensure  the  application  of  the  sustainable  development 
principles, and unblock bottlenecks, especially with JASPERS;  

•  To further assist Member States in mobilising the available Technical Assistance of their 
programmes for boosting regional sustainable growth and to facilitate at all administrative 
levels the preparation of the pipeline of projects; 

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•  To  identify  and  encourage  further  exchange  of  good  practice  between  Member  States  in 
areas  related  to  sustainable  growth  through  initiatives  such  as  Regions  for  Economic 
Change or ESPON. 

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Map 1: Cohesion Policy funding for environment 2007-2013 

ANNEX I 

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Map 2: climate change vulnerability index118 

. 

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. 

.. 

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118 

Source: Regions2020 - An assessment of future challenges for EU Regions; SEC(2008) 

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...Map 3: solar energy resources 

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..Map 4: Natura 2000 area 

.. 

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ANNEX II 

A) Indicators for Map 1 

Domestic material consumption per GDP 
Total waste per capita 
Municipal waste recycled (kg per capita) total - landfilled - incinerated 
Collected Waste electr(on)ic equipment per total waste electr(on)ic equipment 
Recycling of packaging waste (as % total packaging waste) 
Ground water extraction as percentage of total available water resources 
Surface water extraction as percentage of total available water resources 
Surface + ground water extraction as percentage of total available water resources 
GHG Emissions from transport / GDP 
Final energy consumption of transport / GDP 

. 

B) Categories of expenditure taking into account for Map 2 

06Assistance to SMEs for the promotion of environmentally-friendly products and production processes  
16 Railways  
17 Railways (TEN-T)  
18 Mobile rail assets  
19 Mobile rail assets (TEN-T)  
24 Cycle tracks  
26 Multimodal transport  
27 Multimodal transport (TEN-T)  
28 Intelligent transport systems  
30 Ports  
31 Inland waterways (regional and local)  
32 Inland waterways (TEN-T)  
33 Electricity  
34 Electricity (TEN-E)  
35 Natural gas  
36 Natural gas (TEN-E)  
39 Renewable energy: wind  
40 Renewable energy: solar  
41 Renewable energy: biomass  
42 Renewable energy: hydroelectric, geothermal and other  
43 Energy efficiency, co-generation, energy management  
44 Management of household and industrial waste  
45 Management and distribution of water (drink water)  
46 Water treatment (waste water)  
52 Promotion of clean urban transport  

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. 

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119 

ANNEX III 

Allocations to selected operations119 in current RP 2007-2013 

Sustainable energy & sustainable transport 

Sustainable Energy & Sustainable Transport related categories 

Six MS (DE, EE, EL, ES, FR, SI) have provided their data on allocation to selected projects at dates 
other  than  30/09/09.  This  should  be  carefully  taken  into  consideration  when  making  comparative 
analysis  of  the  graphics.  It  is  recommended  to  compare  MS  progress  to  the  EU  average  rather  than 
making direct comparison between MS 

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Sustainable Energy & Sustainable Transport related categories 

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.Ecosystem services 

Ecosystem services related categories 

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Ecosystem services related categories 

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. 

.Eco-innovation & resource efficiency 

Eco-innovation & resource efficiency related categories 

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Eco-innovation & resource efficiency related categories 

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.GLOSSARY: 

. 

CP: Cohesion Policy 

EC: European Commission 

EE: Energy Efficiency  

ERDF: European Regional Development Fund 

ESF: European Social Fund 

GHG: Greenhouse Gases 

GPP: Green Public Procurement 

LCE: Low Carbon Economy 

LRAs: Local and Regional Authorities 

MA: Managing Authority 

MS: Member States 

OP: Operational Programme 

RES: Renewable Energy Sources 

RP: Regional Policy  

SD: Sustainable Development 

SG: Sustainable Growth 

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