The Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs, launched by the European Council in 2000, has at its core the aim of creating a knowledgeable society and a European social model as well as innovative measures. It was relaunched by the 2005 Spring Council after only mixed results had been obtained up to that time. In 2007 and 2008, Member States were given specific recommendations on the actions to be taken concerning the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy. While these recommendations are directed primarily at the national governments of member states, regions and cities are also important actors and areas for sustainable growth. In order to reap the full benefits of regional programmes and their significant contribution to achieving the Lisbon objectives, the potential role of regional and local authorities in a new strategy for sustainable growth and better jobs will be investigated by the Ecologic Institute in this project.

As the current Lisbon Strategy only covers the period until 2010, there is presently an opportunity to improve it and to adapt it to the 27 present day EU members and the ongoing economic and environmental crisis as well as to strengthen the principles of sustainable development. The Committee of the Region aims at strengthening the role of regions and cities in the strategy. To support the committee in this process, Ecologic studies one particular field of local action, namely the development and implementation of Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs). The project is carried out in cooperation with Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) and the Regional Environment Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (REC).

In particular, the study will cover aspects that make cooperation between cities and regions likely and desirable as well as those that make cooperation difficult. Economies of scale and increasing power in negotiations with other levels of government and the private sector may make cooperation easier. By contrast, the existence of different solutions and approaches in different cities, problems of compatibility, and competition among cities may make cooperation more unlikely.