The Structural Funds Regulations were adopted in July 2006. They represent the legal basis of the European cohesion policy. There are two Structural Funds available for the EU regions in the new programming period 2007-2013: The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF).

The ERDF is probably better known and “visible” as it supports investment projects but the ESF is equally important - enhancing human capital, improving employment opportunities, adaptability of workers and enterprises and institutional capacity. The municipalities can take advantage of it and strengthen their capacities in the field of sustainable energy. The ESF will support public administrations and services at national, regional and local level through:

• Mechanisms to improve good (sustainable energy) policy and programme design, monitoring, evaluation, statistics and expert advice.
• Support for interdepartmental coordination and dialogue between relevant public and private bodies (necessary for development and implementation of sustainable energy/climate change strategies),
• Capacity building in delivery of (sustainable energy) policies and programmes – through managerial and staff training and specific support to key services, environmental partners, NGOs (providing consultancy and expertise in the field of energy efficiency), professional organisations (building companies or architects interested in low-energy building design).
• Trans-national and interregional actions in particular through the sharing of information, experiences, results and good practices, and through developing complementary approaches and coordinated or joint action.

The Regulation on the ESF is binding and directly applicable in all Member States (MS). However, it is up to each MS to set its priorities and specify the actions that will be supported from the ESF. Therefore, the municipalities should look for the support in the national operational programmes. In case the European priorities are not sufficiently integrated into these programmes, municipalities should put pressure on their national governments to do so.

Jana Cicmanova
Project Manager