“International Handbook on Green Local Fiscal Policy Models”
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“International handbook on green local fiscal policy models” LOCAL Policies for GREEN Energy – LOCAL4GREEN 1 Meritxell Bennasar Casasa Contents 1. Introduction 1.1. Background. Description Local Policies for Green Energy Project 1.2. About this document: main objectives and characteristics of this manual 1.3. Target Groups: Local authorities Consultants specializing in public management Decision makers of national and regional authorities Other interested parties in the promotion of renewable energy sources 1.4. Partners 2. Description of the 9 Mediterranean countries 2.1. Albania Lezha Vau i Dejës Kukës 2.2. Croatia Brdovec Jastrebarsko Klanjec Dugo Selo Pregrada 2.3. Cyprus Lakatamia Nicosia Aradippou 2.4. Greece Amariou Edessa Farsala Kozani Lagadas Leros Malevizi Milos Pilea-Hortiatis Platania Sithonia Tanagra Thermi Volvi 2.5. Italy 2 2.6. Malta San Lawrenz Sannat Kercem 2.7. Portugal Albufeira Alcoutim Aljezur Castro Marim Faro Lagoa Lagos Loulé Monchique Olhão Portimão São Brás de Alportel Silves Tavira Vila do Bispo Vila Real de Santo António 2.8. Slovenia Grosuplje Ivančna Gorica Kamnik Kočevje Kranj Križevci Lenart Trebnje 2.9. Spain Dolores Muro d’Alcoi Pedreguer Alfàs del Pi Altea Callosa d’en Sarrià Almussafes Godella Quart de Poblet Alaquàs Xeresa 3. Comparative study of national regulations 3.1. Albania 3.1.1. Albanian Tax System 3.1.2. Description of Fiscal Policies of Pilot Municipalities 3.2. Croatia 3.2.1. Croatian Tax Sytem 3.2.2. Description of Fiscal Policies of Pilot Municipalities 3.3. Cyprus 3.3.1. Cypriot Tax Sytem 3 3.3.2. Description of Fiscal Policies of Pilot Municipalities 3.4. Greece 3.4.1. Greek Tax Sytem 3.4.2. Description of Fiscal Policies of Pilot Municipalities 3.5. Malta 3.5.1. Maltese Tax Sytem 3.5.2. Description of Fiscal Policies of Pilot Municipalities 3.6. Portugal 3.6.1. Portuguese Tax Sytem 3.6.2. Description of Fiscal Policies of Pilot Municipalities 3.7. Slovenia 3.7.1. Slovenian Tax Sytem 3.7.2. Description of Fiscal Policies of Pilot Municipalities 3.8. Spain 3.8.1. Spanish Tax Sytem 3.8.2. Description of Fiscal Policies of Pilot Municipalities 4. Analysis of legislative barriers 4.1. Albania 4.2. Croatia 4.3. Cyprus 4.4. Greece 4.5. Malta 4.6. Portugal 4.7. Slovenia 4.8. Spain 5. Selection of best practices at the local level 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Country analysis 5.2.1. Albania 5.2.2. Croatia 5.2.3. Cyprus 5.2.4. Greece 5.2.5. Malta 5.2.7 Portugal 5.2.8 Slovenia 5.2.9. Spain 6. Recommendations 4 1. Introduction 1.1. Background. Description Local Policies for Green Energy Project The project LOCAL4GREEN aims to support local authorities to define and implement local fiscal policies, and specifically green taxation, to promote renewable energy sources (RES) and energy efficiency measures in their local areas. The LOCAL4GREEN project is co-funded by Interreg MED (2014-2020) and has been running since November 2016. The project supports local authorities to define and implement local fiscal policies intended to promote renewable energy sources in all sectors (public, private, households), mainly in the framework of the SEAPs (Sustainable Energy Action Plans submitted under the 2020 Covenant) and SECAPs (Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans to be submitted under the 2030 Covenant) adopted by the signatories of the Covenant of Mayors. By the beginning of March 2019, the Covenant was signed by 7,755 cities/municipalities (number of inhabitants – 252,629,868) and the interest of other cities for joining is extremely high. Covenant of Mayors Initiative spread beyond European borders and expanded to the entire world. Beside more than 4,500 European cities the Covenant was also signed by the Mayors of municipalities of Argentina, New Zealand, Palestinian Territories, etc. The project LOCAL4GREEN is funded by the European Regional Development Fund in the framework of the Interreg MED 2014-20 programme. The project is led by the Valencia Federation of Municipalities and Provinces. The project LOCAL4GREEN is being implemented in the rural zones and islands of the MED region, where local fiscal policies play a crucial role in order to raise the share of renewable energy sources. The project addresses the Priority Axis 2: Fostering low-carbon strategies and energy efficiency in specific MED territories: cities, islands and remote areas, and the Specific Objective 2.2: To increase the share of renewable local energy sources in energy mix strategies and plans in specific MED territories: rural areas and islands. In these kinds of territories, where local authorities have economical and technical constraints, renewable energy sources promotion plans should prioritize collaboration and active roles for public and private sectors. There are currently (implementing a pilot experience) 10 project partners from nine different countries/regions of the Mediterranean area: . Albania . Greece . Portugal . Croatia . Italia . Slovenia . Cyprus . Malta . Spain 5 The pilot includes the participative design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of local fiscal policies to promote renewable energy sources. The pilot is included in the Work Package 3 “Testing” of the project, led by the MUSOL foundation. Once concluded, the phases of designing, implementation and monitoring of the fiscal policies as well as the evaluation of the pilots and the fiscal policies of each partner has been outlined in a national handbook on green local fiscal policy models. The national handbooks have been used by the MUSOL foundation to prepare this international handbook on green local fiscal policy models to promote RES. 1.2. About this document: main objectives and characteristics of the international handbook The International Handbook on green local fiscal policy models corresponds to a summary document of the work that has been developed by the different countries partners. The project is thus being developed in close collaboration with all the municipalities that are part of the project. The International Handbook on green local fiscal policy models intends to summarize the green local fiscal policies that were designed with the municipalities of the different countries, and respective implementation proposal. The main sources of information for the elaboration of the international handbook were the evaluation reports of the pilot fiscal policies as well as information provided by the municipalities in the context of presentation and discussion meetings of the evaluation reports. This international handbook is elaborated in order to support other following municipalities in implementing innovative local fiscal policies that aim to promote renewable energy sources. The objectives of the international handbook on green local fiscal policy models are to: . Outline policy models transferrable at a national level, based on pilots’ experiences and best practices. Provide national decision makers with all information (legal, economical, technical, etc.) needed to implement the green local fiscal policy models in other municipalities. Provide the project with best practices on green local fiscal policies to be included in an international handbook and transferred at international level. Outline a comparative study of national regulation to facilitate transferring for decision makers. The main sources of information for the elaboration of the international handbook are the national handbooks; the structures of contents of the national and international handbooks are totally complementary. The national handbooks will be provided by each project partner. 1.3. Main target groups: The main target groups of the international handbook are: . Local authorities’ employees and decision makers . Consultants specialized in public management . National and regional authorities decision makers 6 . Other stakeholders interested in the promotion and advocacy for renewable energy sources 1.4. Partners The project partners are (figure 1): . Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (VFMP), Lead Partner, and MUSOL Foundation (MUSOL), from Spain . Malta Intelligent Energy Management, MIEMA, from Malta. North-West Croatia Regional Energy Agency, REGEA, from Croatia. Development Agency of Eastern Thessaloniki’s Local Authorities, Centre for the Development of Human Resources and the Support of Local Economy (ANATOLIKI S.A), from Greece. National Association of the Italian Municipalities – Lazio (ANCI LAZIO), from Italy. Building and Civil Engineering Institute ZRMK (GI ZRMK), from Slovenia. Cyprus Energy Agency (CEA), from Cyprus. University of Algarve (UAlg), from Portugal. Association of Albanian Municipalities (AAM), from Albania. Figure 1. LOCAL4GREEN partners The LOCAL4GREEN project also has associated partners, namely: . Gozo Development Agency – Gozo Regional Committee (GDA) – Malta; . Municipality of Kamnik – Slovenia; . Local Energy Agency of Gorjenska – Slovenia; . Municipality of Kocevje – Slovenia; . Regional Agency of Energy and Environment of the Algarve (AREAL) – Portugal; . Municipality of Loulé – Portugal; . Municipality of Faro – Portugal; . Interdepartmental Centre for Research and Dissemination of Renewable Energy – University of Tuscia (CIRDER) – Italy; . Municipality of Formello – Italy; . Municipality of Olevano Romano – Italy; . Business Innovation Centre of Valencia – Spain; . Community Council of Lythrodontas - Cyprus; 7 . Nicosia Municipality – Cyprus; . Aradippou Municipality – Cyprus; . Municipality of Thermi – Greece; . Ribera Consortium (RIBERA) – Spain. 2. Description of the 9 Mediterranean