EC launches project on clean air in EU islands

The European Commission has launched the project ‘Strengthening cooperation on climate action among EU islands’ with the primary aim of assisting EU islands to develop clean and eco friendly means of energy. The project was proposed by Maltese MEP Alfred Sant, former Prime Minister and Croatian MEP Tonino Picula, former Foreign Affairs Ministers of Croatia who in the past months worked on the implementation of a project for clean energy for EU island states. The European Commission has forked out €10 million to enforce the project after it had already approved €2 million for the same project. Picula represents various Croatian islands while Dr Sant has been actively asking the EC to provide funds for clean energy in EU islands, including Malta and Gozo.

‘The Secretariat for the Islands Initiative’ is expected to assist EU islands in preparation of decarbonisation plans, and give guidance on their implementation. It will also organise the Islands Initiative annual fora in 2018 and 2019 to bring together all concerned stakeholders.

Sant said that in Europe there is already a base of island experience that has made good progress in developing and generating locally and cost effectively clean energy. That already offers scope for further expansion and development of clean energy production to most European island systems.

Sant expressed his satisfaction that the EC had supported his concerns to make up for the effects of insularity which citizens experience in EU islands.

The Commission will identifying 20 islands as case-studies working with different individual islands.