The European policy for the sustainability of urban areas and the “Covenant of Mayors” initiative: a case study

Abstract. The “Covenant of Mayors” (CoM) is an initiative of the DG for Energy of the European Commission. It was started in 2008, with the aim of reducing Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) by 20% by 2020 through the implementation of adequate actions taken in agreement between the European Commission and the municipalities (so called signatories), which intend to adhere. The actions are identified and listed in the “Sustainable Energy Action Plan” (SEAP), which each signatory must produce within one year from adhesion and submit to the European organisms for formal approval and consequent accession to financial tools to implement them. A total of 36 (out of 61) municipalities of the province of Foggia subscribed to the above-mentioned agreement in 2010 and, one year later, submitted their SEAPs to the validation of the experts of the Joint Research Centre - Institute of Energy (JRC-IE) of the European Commission. All the submitted SEAPs were formally approved in July 2012. This work reports on the methodology the authors used for the elaboration of the SEAPs and the achieved results.