Centre-right mayors and regional leaders discuss how cities and regions can help to meet EU's climate targets while focusing on real needs at the “EU’s Climate Targets: Budgets, Ambitions and Implementation on the Ground” conference co-organised between the EPP-CoR Group and the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies.
Opening the event, Sari Rautio, President of the EPP Group in the CoR, recalled the central role of local and regional authorities in delivering Europe’s climate agenda. She underlined that the transition must be ambitious, realistic and inclusive, taking on board all levels of government as well as businesses, farmers, universities, research centres and citizens, “without leaving any region, any city, any citizen behind”.
As CoR rapporteur on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) post-2027, Rautio called for a strong and modernised cohesion policy for 2028–2034, based on the “golden principles” of shared management, multi-level governance, the partnership principle and a place-based approach: “We support climate mainstreaming, but we also insist on proportionality, cutting unnecessary administrative burden and safeguarding our energy independence by providing affordable energy prices for households and SMEs. The next MFF must make Europe more competitive, more secure, more resilient and more sustainable.”
She also stressed the need for predictability and a credible long-term vision: “We can set all the targets we want at European level, but unless they are anchored locally and regionally, nothing will truly happen on the ground. People want hope – they want to know what kind of society we are building. That means clear timelines and language that people understand.”
Budget centralisation “means lowering Europe’s ambitions”
Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw, warned against attempts to centralise parts of the EU budget and to lump cohesion policy, agriculture and elements of internal security into a single heading: “It is deeply concerning that regions and cities are being taken out of the equation. If this continues, it will be extremely difficult to deliver on our shared priorities. We simply cannot achieve Europe’s goals without its cities and regions – we are the ones pushing the agenda forward, implementing policies on the ground and giving democratic legitimacy to the entire European project.” He argued that such a budget construction, risks making cohesion policy “significantly less ambitious”, limiting it to support for only the most disadvantaged regions and farmers, and slowing it down “to an unprecedented degree”.
Trzaskowski called instead for a realistic, people-centred EU budget: “We need a budget that focuses on practical solutions: tackling energy prices, cutting unnecessary restrictions and strengthening competitiveness. Local and regional authorities walk the streets of our towns and cities and hear from citizens every day – we know what works.” He also called for direct funds from the EU to cities and regions to invest in green transition.
Trzaskowski also underlined that we need to change the narrative. The EU was too much focused on language that was seen as ideological and less on the benefits the consumers can get from the green transition. We – local and regional leaders – can translate that into a language close to the citizens, presenting them the benefits of the transition like greener city, better air quality, better health, lower energy prices, modern public transportation means less congestion in the city. We need to trust the people and convince them it's a win-win situation.
Trzaskowski also argued that politics is a balancing act between freedom and rules. We need to be ambitious on climate but we need to balance the policies, for example the ETS2 is too fast, too restrictive and against our competitiveness. We need to think about the pace we adopt our policies not to kill our local economies.
“Five golden rules” for the energy transition
Konstantinos Bakoyannis, Chair of the ENVE Commission and Leader of the Opposition in Athens, highlighted that the green and economic transition affects parts of Europe very differently: “Europe is not moving at a single speed. The real divide is not North–South or East–West, but between well-connected and poorly connected energy systems, between capital-rich and capital-constrained economies, and between mature industrial regions and those still reinventing their industrial base.”
Citing Greece as “a good case in point”, he noted that the country has reduced CO₂ emissions by 46% since 2005 and that nearly half of its electricity now comes from renewables – yet still faces some of the most volatile and highest electricity prices in Europe.
“Renewables are not failing the country. The problem is that the system around them is incomplete,” Bakoyannis stressed.
He presented five “golden rules” for the transition:
1. Cost-effective deployment – scaling up competitive technologies like solar before pushing more expensive ones.
2. Focus on emissions reductions, not ideology – rejecting rigid notions of technological neutrality.
3. A truly integrated European energy market – removing barriers and investing in interconnections so cheap renewable power can flow from south to north.
4. Stronger market governance – predictable rules, transparent pricing and clear investment signals to reduce volatility.
5. A transition that supports prosperity – benefiting industry, jobs and social cohesion.
Cities and industry as engines of transformation
Drawing on Finland’s experience, Markku Markkula, Former President of the Helsinki Region and Chair of the CoR Working Group “Green Deal Going Local”, underlined that Europe is already rich in local solutions but poor in using them systematically: “We have thousands – even millions – of projects across Europe, but we do not make full use of their results. The Commission must pay more attention to translating project outcomes into real-life practice.”
He showcased Espoo, Finland’s fastest-growing city, where district heating systems built over decades and a “Clean Heat” partnership with industry enabled a full phase-out of coal two years ago and a rapid end to Russian fossil fuels after the invasion of Ukraine.
Markkula summarised his message in five points:
1. Cities and industry together are the engines of Europe’s green transformation, which is a genuine transformation, not just a minor adjustment.
2. Measures for a systemic climate transformation must be accelerated, in line with a clean industrial deal, competitiveness and security policy.
3. EU missions, such as the Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030, are powerful tools whose experiences should be widely shared.
4. Digitalisation and artificial intelligence must be fully integrated into the transition to manage complexity, optimise energy use and scale up solutions.
5. Massive industrial investment is needed – and that requires regulatory predictability, not constant rule-changes.
“The transformation cannot be financed by taxpayers alone. Investors tell us that regulatory stability matters more than subsidies. We must keep our 2030, 2040 and 2050 targets stable and ensure market mechanisms function. With new knowledge and innovation from engineers, IT specialists and entrepreneurs, we can build a private market system that supports our climate goals and creates a positive reality for everyone,” he concluded.
The whole debate can be seen HERE.