Press Release: Sustainable energy a keystone for local development, Hübner tells conference in Southern Italy

Sustainable energy is a keystone for local development. That is the central message Danuta Hübner, Commissioner for Regional Policy, is deliver at a conference on energy in Bari, Southern Italy, on 24 January, 2008. The conference, organised to develop Italy's regional development policy for 2007-2013, is entitled 'Sustainable, Competitive and Safe Energy'. Mr Pier Luigi Bersani, Minister of Economic Development, and Mr Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, Minister of Environment, join Commissioner Hübner as keynote speakers at an event to prepare effective implementation of the energy priorities Italy has defined. The presidents of Italy's southern regions will also take part. The aim is to boost the proportion of renewable sources in the energy consumption of Campania, Puglia, Calabria, Sicily and Basilicata. Italy's allocation of European Regional Development Fund investment for renewable energy sources and energy efficiency is the highest in the EU for the current funding period, €1.85 billion.