Cities of Krusevac and Uzice and municipalities of Paracin and Vrbas, by signing the licence agreement, officially joined the European Energy Award (EEA) Association within the Municipal Energy Efficiency and Management Project (MEEMP) in Serbia, supported by the Swiss Government under the coordination of the Ministry of Mining and Energy of the Republic of Serbia. The stated cities and municipalities have already gathered experiences with the all-inclusive EEA process for more than one year. Now they are confirming their commitment to continuously pursue sustainable and ambitious energy and climate targets by officially joining the EEA Association, a recognized quality management and certification system with more than 1’500 participating municipalities all over Europe.
The EEA licence agreement was signed on behalf of the project beneficiary cities and municipalities by the Mayor of the City of Krusevac, Mrs. Jasmina Palurovic, by the Mayor of the City of Uzice, Mr. Tihomir Petkovic, by the Paracin Municipality President, Mr. Sasa Paunovic, and by the Vrbas Municipality President, Mr. Milan Glusac, and on behalf of the EEA Association by the Board Member of the international EEA Association, Mr. Reto Lindegger.
While opening the conference, the Assistant Energy Minister in charge of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency, Mr. Milos Banjac, stated that the Ministry for Mining and Energy has already implemented an Energy Management System in Serbian cities with more than 20’000 inhabitants. Mr. Banjac emphasised the importance and high ambitions of the MEEMP, and its guidance by the integral EEA approach that will help the local self-governments to improve the Energy Management System at the local level. Mr. Banjac stressed out the hopes that other cities and municipalities in Serbia will follow the example of the pilot municipalities in achieving energy efficiency goals and eventually becoming a part of the EEA network.
Following the speech of the Assistant Minister, the Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office, Embassy of Switzerland to the Republic of Serbia, Mrs. Ursula Läubli, stated that Switzerland is at the forefront when it comes to the promotion of innovative policies and technologies for the implementation of the global climate agenda. The label “Energy City” was established in Switzerland in 1988 and is now used as the European Energy Award across many countries. “We are introducing the EEA approach to enable Serbian municipalities to implement the national legal requirements from the energy field in a more sustainable and comprehensive way and improve energy management”, added Mrs. Läubli.
In their addressing representatives of the project beneficiary cities and municipalities highlighted special gratitude to the Swiss Government for their participation in the MEEMP and the honour entrusted to them by joining the EEA Association.
During the conference the visiting experts explained that the EEA approach supports municipalities and accelerates their compliance with national and supranational energy and climate targets and strategies by translating national and international goals effectively into local policy recommendations. The EEA is present in Austria, Liechtenstein, France, Luxemburg, Germany, Monaco, Italy and Switzerland, which are regular member countries, and Belgium, Croatia, Greece, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine, which are pilot countries.
The conference was organized in cooperation with Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities and incorporated the 5th Meeting of the Network of Energy Managers. The Meeting included presentations by both national and international experts on topics of relevance for sustainable energy and climate policies on local levels: spatial energy planning as important strategic foundation for a sustainable use of locally available renewable energy sources, sustainable mobility planning and the status of energy managers in local authorities.
The conference was attended by the Secretary General of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, Mr. Djordje Stanicic, other high officials of the Ministry of Mining and Energy, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), members of the Serbian Network of Energy Managers and other national and international guests from partner institutions and projects, from academia and media.
You can learn more about the European Energy Award here:
https://www.european-energy-award.org/welcome-to-the-european-energy-award