​On 6 July the CoR Plenary adopted the opinion of Andries Gryffroy on Fostering the potential and synergies of EU Green Deal initiatives for regions and cities. The opinion provides recommendations to address an increasing sense of general fatigue among local and regional authorities due to the multitude of initiatives and the complexity of the overall framework.

"The road towards climate neutrality will require a deep transformation of regions and cities. However, access to funding and initiatives remains a barrier for many local and regional authorities. It is therefore important to reflect on the potential and added value of these initiatives, and to take action to simplify their frameworks, address overlaps and improve synergies, in order to maximize their impact and contribution to Green Deal objectives," Mr Gryffroy said.

Local and regional leaders invite the European Commission to upscale the Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy by exploiting stronger synergies with other initiatives, further supporting the EU mission on Climate Neutral and Smart Cities, while strengthening multilevel governance

The opinion also calls for a general shift of focus from planning to implementation of concrete projects and for the use of smart monitoring. Additionally, it suggests establishing an EU-level hub for local authorities, serving as a single-entry point where they can access relevant information in a user-friendly and demand-based manner.

"Each region and city have a particular DNA, which is why we can't squeeze them into a 'one size fits all' approach. Networks and EU-funded supportive initiatives should provide for sufficient flexibility to adapt to certain characteristics and tailor the support to local and regional needs focusing on creating enabling frameworks to accelerate implementation, Mr Gryffroy explained.