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The LIFE NECPlatform project, kicked off late 2022, aims at supporting six EU Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Italy, Portugal, and Romania) transition to climate neutrality by setting-up and managing permanent multi-level Climate and Energy Dialogue (CED) Platforms in line with Article 11 of the Energy Union Governance Regulation, operational between March 2023 and September 2024. The objective is to reinforce the national policy frameworks of the six target countries to design an inclusive governance model that in the future could be replicated in other Member States.

NECPlatform partners are now in full speed to gather relevant stakeholders from ministries in charge of NECPs, national associations of local and regional authorities, local, regional, and national energy agencies, civil society, business sector and academia, in Dialogue Platforms. The first country to organise theirs was Croatia, in March 2023, which has already been followed by Italy (where the dialogue was held on the 3^rd of April) and will be further followed by Portugal and Romania this April (with the project team participating in the latter). France and Bulgaria will organise their first dialogues before the summer.

The dialogue platforms ensure that energy and climate policies are co-created and consistent across all levels of governance, for National Governments to work hand in hand with local and regional authorities, helping Europe achieve its goals of climate neutrality and energy independence.

NECPlatform will help Member States comply with EU Regulation, mandating that each country put in place such platforms in the process of updating their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs).  Within these dialogues, we help foster vertical and horizontal integration of energy and climate policies, ensuring that they are inclusive, co-created and coherent across all levels of government. The project just released graphics showing how the dialogues are implemented in each of the six countries, and who are the stakeholders involved. The country pages available present for each a state of play for a full overview (role of stakeholders, goals, opportunities, etc.).

So how does it look in practice?

REGEA’s team report back from Croatia, where the first dialogue took place. The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development is currently developing an updated version of the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP). The Plan should pay particular attention to the 2030 targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy from renewable sources, energy efficiency and electricity interconnection. The deadline for submitting the first version is around the corner: June 2023, while the final version is due in June 2024. The EIHP institute is in charge of drafting the document, and REGEA helps in the implementation of multilevel dialogues involving all levels of government and all key sectors in this process through the NECPlatform project. REGEA will organise at least six workshops where NECP measures will be presented to collect feedback from all those who will later be in charge of its implementation.

Tomislav Novosel from REGEA says “The first climate and energy dialogue brought together over 40 stakeholders around the same table, all with the aim to deliver positive changes in our policy landscape. We hope this platform continues to do the same long after the NECPlatform project and this round of the NECP development ends.”

The first workshop, successfully organized on March 21, was attended by representatives of 9 ministries and of local self-government units, energy entities and experts, NGOs and the academic and scientific research community.

Co-funded by the European Union under grant agreement n° LIFE 101076359. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.