RURENER
RURENER
RURENER is a network of rural communities committed to the social and ecological transitions.
ID: 648355930470-80
Lobbying Activity
Meeting with Marie Toussaint (Member of the European Parliament)
11 Jun 2025 · renewable in rural area
Response to Long term vision for rural areas
7 Sept 2020
We want to build a future where rural territories are not just side-kicks but real players in the future of a more sustainable European Union. The energy transition is no longer a technical challenge but a human one. It can bring prosperity and a greater harmony with our environment at the condition that everyone gets to work, including large petroleum companies, and other strong lobbies at the EU and international level. As long as these lobbies have more seats at the table of decision-making than the general interest, no significant change will be achieved. To establish a rational long-term vision for rural territories, all players must be taken into account, and their relation to rural territories must be considered closely. A new path has to be taken, in which the energy transition is a tool for local development and not just a funding opportunity. A new path that leads to more autonomy of rural territories from fossil fuels, but not to their isolation from the other territories. Solidarity is necessary, between all territories and stakeholders of the EU and solidarity starts with a shared understanding of the situation, of the potentials and of the barriers to align everyone’s actions. This is what we think should be the purpose of the long-term rural vision.
Read full responseResponse to 2030 Climate Target Plan
15 Apr 2020
In the assessment, economic indicators should be considered as important as social impacts of energy and climate projects at the local level. This concerns particularly rural territories that have troubles accessing European funding or feeling concerned by European policies. The recognition of rural territories' role in the energy transition and specificities (strenghts and weaknesses) is necessary for the Climate Target Plan to be inclusive. In order to hope for a real impact of European policies, these policies must be co-constructed with the people impacted by them. A space of dialogue dedicated to rural communities should be considered in order to reinforce the trust and mutual knowledge between rural citizens and municipalities and the EU. While policies dedicated to urban development have been implemented, policies for rural development are too often limited to agricultural challenges. These challenges are key for the rural world but they cannot be considered in isolation from all the other dyamics going on in rural territories. These dynamics can be an incredible lever to accelerate the energy transition and foster real cooperation between cities and the countryside. The impact of mobilization of synergies should also be assessed.
The overall targets regarding climate change must be ambitious and examplary, because if the EU is not ambitious, who will? In addition, the means to reach these targets must be aligned with it. This means that the fossil fuels or fossil fuel investors should no longer continue to have such a immense influence of European policy making. This behavior hurts the trust that any municipality can have in the Union, in particular in rural areas where the efforts requested are often very big in comparison to the renevues of the municipality. If the EU sets and ambitious Climate plan but let fossil fuel lobbyists be in charge, how can people trust the EU's will to achieve this transition? These questions are common in our the European network of rural communities, RURENER, and at the very local level we can feel the interest in working with the EU and at EU level diminishing. Rural communities are unique, they representant the vast majority of the European territory and its natural resources. This added value must be assessed and recognized at the EU level, in order not to leave anyone behind.
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