Objective of the consultation

In its Communication "Energy 2020 - A strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy", the Commission identified the Smart Cities Initiative as a project of European dimension for energy efficiency and for accelerating the large scale deployment of innovative low carbon technologies. On 4 February 2011, the European Council invited the Commission to launch an Industrial Initiative inter alia on 'energy saving solutions in cities'.

In line with this guidance, the Smart Cities and Communities Initiative will initially rely on the organisational framework of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET)-Plan. In a next step, the Commission plans to create a stakeholder forum gathering the various stakeholders in this area and structuring their dialogue and their contribution to the initiative. At a later stage, the initiative may evolve into a European Innovation Partnership as envisaged by the Commission’s Communication on the Innovation Union of 6 October 2010.

As part of the preparation of this initiative, the present consultation has sought the opinion from all relevant stakeholders. Its purpose is to propose a European vision for a Smart Cities and Communities initiative and to receive feedback and additional ideas on this proposal. A public consultation by means of this online questionnaire offers the opportunity to all interested stakeholders to express their views in the preparation stage of the initiative.