The "EU external energy engagement in a changing world", presented on 18 May 2022 as part of the REPowerEU Plan, explains how the EU supports a global, clean and just energy transition to ensure sustainable, secure and affordable energy.

The WBIF has launched a new call for grants for projects within its six investment areas. These areas include sustainable transport, clean energy, environment & climate, digital future, human capital, and private sector development. Call for submissions deadline: 26 August 2022.

First in-person visits of the coal regions exchange programme took place in June-July 2022. We have summarised key details about them to exemplify how the regions share their experiences of working toward a just transition.

DUE TO RUSSIAN AGGRESSION ON UKRAINE (WHICH BEGUN ON 24.02.2022), ALL INTERNATIONAL ENERGY PRICES WENT UP TO A NEW LEVEL. Prices for Euro 95, Diesel, heating oil and LPG calmed a bit. Croatia relaxed its administrative price cap for Euro Super 95 and Diesel and was joined by Hungary from 15/11/2021 and Slovenia with price cap on Heating oil from 15/11/2021. Greece has floating Other indirect taxes that change every week. New VAT of 25% on all fuels introduced by Sweden from start of 2022. New excise taxes from start of 2022 enacted by Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. New Other indirect taxes enacted by Belgium, Latvia, Cyprus, Ireland, Hungary and Portugal. Poland reduced VAT to 8% and Slovenia reduced excise taxes from February. Spain and France introduced rebates on retail price up to 15% from April 1st. Italy increased temporarily Excise Duty to Gasoil and Carbon Tax to Gasoil & Fuel Oil from 1 May 2022. Sweden reduced excises on gasoline and diesel. Slovenia reintroduced price caps for Eurosuper 95 and Diesel. Portugal lowered further excise tax on Eurosuper 95 and Diesel. Czechia lowered further excise tax on Eurosuper 95, Diesel and Heating oil. Croatia and Portugal further reduced excise taxes from June. Germany introduced temporary lowering of excises on Eurosuper 95 and diesel. Slovenia reduced other indirect taxes from 21.6.2022 for Diesel, EuroSuper and Heating Gas Oil.

We are pleased to announce that the sixth edition of the Just Transition Platform Conference (including the Coal Regions in Transition workstream and Carbon-Intensive Regions seminars) will take place in a hybrid format in Brussels on 24–26 October. This event will be co-hosted by the Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) and the Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER). The conference will also include the Multilevel Dialogue organised by the European Committee of the Regions. You will receive the agenda and registration link via this newsletter. Stay tuned.

Scalable Cities are proud to announce the publication of the paper: "Digitalization in Urban Energy Systems. Outlook 2025, 2030 and 2040." Digitalization is defined as the transformation of a business or industry by using digital technologies to improve its processes.

The Bioregions Facility has kicked off its second series of Forestry Speed Dating events on the theme of Bio-based solutions for sustainable construction.

The City in the Spotlight Awards 2022, now at its 4th edition, will reward those signatories demonstrating the highest commitments, motivation and progress towards climate neutrality.

In order to scale up the implementation of positive energy neighbourhoods (PEN) & decarbonise the EU building stock, BPIE - Buildings Performance Institute Europe as part of oPEN Lab, provides 4 policy recommendations in its recent policy paper.

The CrAFt team is looking for 70 CrAFt Cities that want to test and share models of transformation with us, receive implementation support and become role models for cities across Europe.

The month of June marked the exchangeEU programme’s first study visits and thus the programme’s first steps from planning into practice. The region of Zasavje (Slovenia) and the municipality of Prievidza (Upper Nitra, Slovakia) both welcomed delegations to share experiences on just transition processes. We summarised the first lessons learned and feedback by participants on operationalising a Territorial Just Transition Plan (TJTP), economic diversification, and regional development to provide a glimpse on the discussions held and encourage more coal+ regions to join the programme. Stay tuned for more reports from local exchange formats.

DUE TO RUSSIAN AGGRESSION ON UKRAINE (WHICH BEGUN ON 24.02.2022), ALL INTERNATIONAL ENERGY PRICES WENT UP TO A NEW LEVEL. Prices for Euro 95, Diesel, heating oil and LPG calmed a bit. Croatia relaxed its administrative price cap for Euro Super 95 and Diesel and was joined by Hungary from 15/11/2021 and Slovenia with price cap on Heating oil from 15/11/2021. Greece has floating Other indirect taxes that change every week. New VAT of 25% on all fuels introduced by Sweden from start of 2022. New excise taxes from start of 2022 enacted by Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. New Other indirect taxes enacted by Belgium, Latvia, Cyprus, Ireland, Hungary and Portugal. Poland reduced VAT to 8% and Slovenia reduced excise taxes from February. Spain and France introduced rebates on retail price up to 15% from April 1st. Italy increased temporarily Excise Duty to Gasoil and Carbon Tax to Gasoil & Fuel Oil from 1 May 2022. Sweden reduced excises on gasoline and diesel. Slovenia reintroduced price caps for Eurosuper 95 and Diesel. Portugal lowered further excise tax on Eurosuper 95 and Diesel. Czechia lowered further excise tax on Eurosuper 95, Diesel and Heating oil. Croatia and Portugal further reduced excise taxes from June. Germany introduced temporary lowering of excises on Eurosuper 95 and diesel. Slovenia reduced other indirect taxes from 21.6.2022 for Diesel, EuroSuper and Heating Gas Oil.

On 7-8 July, stakeholders of coal, peat, and oil shale regions gathered at the 3rd Annual Political Dialogue 2022 of the Coal Regions in Transition Initiative in Oviedo, Asturias to take stock of the progress achieved since the start of the initiative in 2018 and discuss the common challenges they face in today’s fast-evolving energy landscape.

DUE TO RUSSIAN AGGRESSION ON UKRAINE (WHICH BEGUN ON 24.02.2022), ALL INTERNATIONAL ENERGY PRICES WENT UP TO A NEW LEVEL. Prices for Diesel and heating oil continued to rise due to tight market, and for Euro 95, and LPG were mixed. Croatia relaxed its administrative price cap for Euro Super 95 and Diesel and was joined by Hungary from 15/11/2021 and Slovenia with price cap on Heating oil from 15/11/2021. Greece has floating Other indirect taxes that change every week. New VAT of 25% on all fuels introduced by Sweden from start of 2022. New excise taxes from start of 2022 enacted by Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. New Other indirect taxes enacted by Belgium, Latvia, Cyprus, Ireland, Hungary and Portugal. Poland reduced VAT to 8% and Slovenia reduced excise taxes from February. Spain and France introduced rebates on retail price up to 15% from April 1st. Italy increased temporarily Excise Duty to Gasoil and Carbon Tax to Gasoil & Fuel Oil from 1 May 2022. Sweden reduced excises on gasoline and diesel. Slovenia reintroduced price caps for Eurosuper 95 and Diesel. Portugal lowered further excise tax on Eurosuper 95 and Diesel. Czechia lowered further excise tax on Eurosuper 95, Diesel and Heating oil. Croatia and Portugal further reduced excise taxes from June. Germany introduced temporary lowering of excises on Eurosuper 95 and diesel. Slovenia reduced other indirect taxes from 21.6.2022 for Diesel, EuroSuper and Heating Gas Oil.

The CEIF's second high level meeting looked at how to deliver on the EU’s renewable energy ambition and strengthen the EU's industrial competitiveness.

DUE TO RUSSIAN AGGRESSION ON UKRAINE (WHICH BEGUN ON 24.02.2022), ALL INTERNATIONAL ENERGY PRICES WENT UP TO A NEW LEVEL. Prices for Diesel and heating oil continued to rise due to tight market, and for Euro 95, and LPG were mixed. Croatia relaxed its administrative price cap for Euro Super 95 and Diesel and was joined by Hungary from 15/11/2021 and Slovenia with price cap on Heating oil from 15/11/2021. Greece has floating Other indirect taxes that change every week. New VAT of 25% on all fuels introduced by Sweden from start of 2022. New excise taxes from start of 2022 enacted by Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. New Other indirect taxes enacted by Belgium, Latvia, Cyprus, Ireland, Hungary and Portugal. Poland reduced VAT to 8% and Slovenia reduced excise taxes from February. Spain and France introduced rebates on retail price up to 15% from April 1st. Italy increased temporarily Excise Duty to Gasoil and Carbon Tax to Gasoil & Fuel Oil from 1 May 2022. Sweden reduced excises on gasoline and diesel. Slovenia reintroduced price caps for Eurosuper 95 and Diesel. Portugal lowered further excise tax on Eurosuper 95 and Diesel. Czechia lowered further excise tax on Eurosuper 95, Diesel and Heating oil. Croatia and Portugal further reduced excise taxes from June. Germany introduced temporary lowering of excises on Eurosuper 95 and diesel. Slovenia reduced other indirect taxes from 21.6.2022 for Diesel, EuroSuper and Heating Gas Oil.

The Clean energy for EU island secretariat hosted its first of seven National Stakeholder Meetings on 21 June 2022 as part of our efforts to identify legal and regulatory barriers to clean energy transition on EU islands, and, more importantly, formulate and discuss solutions on how to overcome these barriers.

DUE TO RUSSIAN AGGRESSION ON UKRAINE (WHICH BEGUN ON 24.02.2022), ALL INTERNATIONAL ENERGY PRICES WENT UP. Prices for Diesel and heating oil continued to rise due to tight market, and for Euro 95, and LPG were mixed. Croatia relaxed its administrative price cap for Euro Super 95 and Diesel and was joined by Hungary from 15/11/2021 and Slovenia with price cap on Heating oil from 15/11/2021. Greece has floating Other indirect taxes that change every week. New VAT of 25% on all fuels introduced by Sweden from start of 2022. New excise taxes from start of 2022 enacted by Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. New Other indirect taxes enacted by Belgium, Latvia, Cyprus, Ireland, Hungary and Portugal. Poland reduced VAT to 8% and Slovenia reduced excise taxes from February. Spain and France introduced rebates on retail price up to 15% from April 1st. Italy increased temporarily Excise Duty to Gasoil and Carbon Tax to Gasoil & Fuel Oil from 1 May 2022. Sweden reduced excises on gasoline and diesel. Slovenia reintroduced price caps for Eurosuper 95 and Diesel. Portugal lowered further excise tax on Eurosuper 95 and Diesel. Czechia lowered further excise tax on Eurosuper 95, Diesel and Heating oil. Croatia and Portugal further reduced excise taxes from June. Germany introduced temporary lowering of excises on Eurosuper 95 and diesel.