Along with nine other European cities, Cluj-Napoca received, on Thursday, the label of the EU mission for smart and climate-neutral cities, one of the EU missions within the Horizon Europe program, announces the Representation of the European Commission in Romania.
The label of the EU mission is an important stage, because it is a recognition of the cities’ plans to become climate neutral already starting from 2030 and aims to facilitate access to public and private funds in order to achieve this objective, the press release of the Representation also shows.
The cities that received the label are: Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Sønderborg (Denmark), Mannheim (Germany), Madrid, Valencia, Valladolid, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Zaragoza (Spain), Klagenfurt (Austria) and Stockholm (Sweden).
“I congratulate the Cluj Napoca authorities for the strategy and plans proposed within the EU Mission for smart and neutral cities from the point of view of the impact on the climate. Based on this proposal, Cluj received the label of “City of the EU mission”, confirming the commitment of the local authorities for a sustainable development of the city. The label is not only symbolic, but also means facilitating access to financing for the projects included in the plans submitted to the European Commission,” said Adina Vălean, the European Commissioner for Transport.
The EU mission label is a recognition of the successful development of municipal contracts on climate change, which outline the respective cities’ overall vision for climate neutrality and contain an action plan as well as an investment strategy. Cities develop their municipal contracts on climate change together with local stakeholders, including the private sector and citizens. A first group of cities presented their contracts in April 2023. The Commission evaluated those contracts with the support of experts, including from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Joint Research Center (JRC). Following a positive evaluation, cities receive the EU mission label, which is intended to facilitate access to EU, national and regional funds and other sources of financing, especially private investment.
These ten cities pave the way for others to move faster towards an equitable green and digital transition and set an example of inclusive co-creation of policy at the local level. In total, 100 EU cities are participating in the EU mission for smart and climate-neutral cities, along with a further 12 cities from countries associated with the Horizon Europe programme.
Together with the mission platform, currently managed by the NetZeroCities project, the Commission will continue to support the effective implementation of municipal contracts on climate change. Cities that have received the EU mission label can now use it as a sign of confidence in their climate neutrality plans, especially when approaching public and private funders.