The LIFE NECPlatform project aimed 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. The objective was 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 gathered 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 those CED Platforms. 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 helped 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, NECPlatform helped foster vertical and horizontal integration of energy and climate policies, ensuring that they are inclusive, co-created and coherent across all levels of government.
Within this report, a widely applicable framework for the set-up and implementation of Climate and Energy Dialogue Platforms is presented. The guidelines are drafted based on the analysis of good practices carried out at the start of the NECPlatform project and tested in each of the six Member States (MS) participating in the NECPlatform project. The guidelines take the form of a manual (the present report) and include (non-exhaustive list):
- A policy assessment framing the context in which the platforms are operating.
- A four-step approach on how to successfully set up and carry out Climate and Energy Dialogues – each step offers best practices from one or more of the 6 project MS.
- Materials and templates for setting up and implementing the meetings and follow-up activities (e.g. templates for invites, draft participation agreement, draft Memorandum of Understanding, etc.).
This manual has been designed as a living document and will help the reader to:
- Understand the concept of Multi-Level Governance (MLG), learning from the experience and shared lessons of 6 Member States.
- Develop a Climate and Energy Dialogue (CED) platform based on a set of core elements.
- Engage stakeholders and build alliances at various levels of the Member State context.
Share key outcomes from the six EU Member States setting up CED platforms within the NECPlatform project.
With a special thank you to Giulia FRACASSI (IEECP) and all partners for their contribution. Reviewed by Thibaut MARAQUIN (Energy Cities), Marine PERRIO and Tomislav NOVOSEL (IEECP).
