Building resilient cities: how to align competitiveness and sustainability in Europe's energy transition?

With the new European institutions taking over, it seems that the main discourse has shifted from the European Green Deal to competitiveness.

This new narrative represents a challenge, but also an opportunity for European cities. We want our territories to thrive, but this cannot happen at the expense of our health and safety.

Resilient local economies for a competitive Europe

A developing city is a place where community wealth exists: the needs of its residents are met, preferably by local economic actors. This contributes to strengthening the local economic system, enhancing social ties, and overall helps in resilience against crisis situations. Resilient local economies are a prerequisite for EU competitiveness.

This community wealth approach applies in many sectors, but I believe it is particularly effective in the energy field.

Currently, very few dispute the need to introduce a greater amount of renewable energy into the grid, not only to combat climate change but also to ensure access for all (both companies and citizens) to energy at a relatively stable and affordable price, regardless of geopolitical context.

However, if we want to accelerate the implementation of renewable sources (RES), we need to ensure that everyone is involved. "Not In My Backyard" (NIMBY) behaviors remain a reality faced by many local leaders.

According to the experience in Porto, local involvement in renewable energy represents a way for cities to combat NIMBY attitudes, but also to contribute to combating energy poverty and developing local economies.

Community energy to combat energy poverty in Porto

This is why Porto intends to include all municipal social housing in community energy projects, representing approximately 12% of the total buildings in the municipality. Solar panels with a total capacity of 6 MW will be installed, providing clean electricity to vulnerable families at a reduced price.

While some projects are still in the bidding phase, others are already being implemented. For example, the energy community in the Agra do Amial neighborhood, active since May 2024, already offers its members renewable energy, with about 50% of the generated energy being consumed by vulnerable families.

Despite our ambitions, we cannot ignore the numerous challenges we face – some common to many European municipalities. Cities often face a lack of staff and financial resources to lead highly participatory processes, often involving hard-to-mobilize citizens (such as vulnerable households) or even to inform the community about energy issues. This, combined with the complexity of these topics, makes our work even more challenging.

Additionally, burdensome administrative procedures and a difficult legal framework at the national level can halt innovative projects and discourage citizens and small businesses from participating. When establishing the first energy community in Porto, it took us two years to connect the social housing units to the installed solar panels.

Leveraging local ecosystems for a more resilient Europe

Fortunately, there are solutions through which local communities can contribute to a more resilient and democratic Europe. Besides ensuring a proper transposition of legislation so that all European citizens benefit from the same energy rights, we need capacity development programs, the creation of local One Stop Shops solutions to inform and engage citizens about available opportunities, and energy literacy programs.

To achieve this, cities will need to access funding, and the integration of initiatives at all levels aimed at increasing the implementation of renewable energy (and energy security) is crucial.

Another important aspect will be ensuring a multilayered governance so that cities can participate in decision-making processes concerning them, not just being asked to implement decisions.

In the upcoming period, the new European Commission intends to develop a new Citizens' Energy Package, as well as to develop a Clean Industry Pact and reform the EU Cohesion Policy. This represents a unique opportunity to align the EU's competitiveness approach with its energy and environmental objectives by establishing appropriate governance mechanisms and allocating necessary resources.

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This opinion editorial is done in collaboration with the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) 2025. Check ec.europa.eu/eusew for open calls.

Filipe Araújo is the Vice-Mayor of Porto and Local Councilor for Environment, Climate, Innovation, and Digital Transition. He is the President of the Municipal Companies Council Porto Ambiente (waste management and cleaning company) and Águas e Energia do Porto (water and energy company). He is also the President of the Porto Energy Agency Council and the Porto Digital Association. Currently, he is the Vice-President of the Energy Cities network and a member of the Mayors' Advisory Group in the Mission of Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, part of the European Mission 100.

This article is a contribution from a partner. All rights reserved. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on its behalf can be held responsible for how the information in this article may be used. The opinions expressed belong solely to the author(s) and should not be considered as representing the official position of the European Commission.