European cities and municipalities are at the forefront of the green transition, but they also face the challenge of ensuring that climate policies do not deepen social inequalities. Rising energy and transport costs risk disproportionately affecting vulnerable households, particularly in smaller municipalities and rural areas.
To address these challenges, the European Union has created the Social Climate Fund, a new financing instrument designed to support vulnerable citizens and communities during the transition to a climate-neutral economy. The fund aims to bridge climate and social policies by investing in measures such as energy efficiency, social housing, and accessible transport, while ensuring that no one is left behind.
Eurocities spoke with Raluca Painter, Head of Unit for the Social Climate Fund at the European Commission, about how local governments are involved in the design and implementation of national social climate plans, how smaller municipalities can access funding despite capacity constraints, and how the fund contributes to the European Pillar of Social Rights.
The Social Climate Fund represents a major European effort to make the transition to a greener economy fair and socially inclusive for all. We are here with Raluca Painter, Head of Unit for the Social Climate Fund at the European Commission. Thank you so much for being here.
My first question is: how will the European Commission ensure that local governments are involved in the design, implementation, and monitoring of national social climate plans, so that local realities and needs are reflected in those plans?
Raluca Painter: The Social Climate Fund is indeed a new generation of funds. For the first time, it bridges climate and green policies with social aspects, aiming to support the most vulnerable in the green transition. Very often, vulnerabilities are concentrated at the local level, and it is local actors who know best where these vulnerabilities lie, whether in energy or transport.
We need to ensure that funding reaches all territories across the European Union. This is done through public consultations. The legislation establishing the Social Climate Fund makes it an obligation for Member States, ministries, and national authorities to consult local and regional authorities.
These consultations are essential when preparing national plans and targeting measures for vulnerable groups. Beyond that, we expect Member States to continue dialogue with the local level throughout the implementation of the fund. They can rely on existing discussion forums and platforms, and the Commission stands ready to support them in identifying the most effective ways to do so.
However, some municipalities, especially smaller ones, may lack administrative capacity or financial resources. How can the European Commission help manage access to Social Climate Fund financing for them?
The Social Climate Fund is distributed by the Commission to Member State authorities, so we do not work directly with the local level. However, many of the areas supported by the fund, such as social housing and public transport, fall at least partly under local competencies.
There are mechanisms to support these actors. Certain expenses can be covered through technical assistance. We also see innovative approaches emerging, inspired, for example, by Slovakia, such as transport-on-demand systems. These can include operating costs at the local level.
To be concrete, on-demand transport could involve electric minivans that help families take children to school or enable elderly people to reach hospitals. During the setup phase of such services, operating costs like paying drivers can also be covered. This is particularly important to support smaller municipalities with limited resources.
How can the European Commission ensure that the Social Climate Fund and its measures contribute to the European Pillar of Social Rights? We are talking about housing, eradicating homelessness, employment, childcare, and education. How do these objectives connect?
Through its core objective of supporting vulnerable families, the Social Climate Fund is fully aligned with the European Pillar of Social Rights. When we speak about vulnerabilities in energy and transport, these are linked to the inclusion of emissions from the transport and building sectors into the Emissions Trading System.
In practice, however, existing vulnerabilities—such as poverty—largely overlap with those that may arise from this transition. For example, in the transport sector, ensuring that children can get to school, that elderly people can access healthcare, or that people in rural areas can reach their workplaces is about guaranteeing access to basic services.
Access to basic services is a central objective of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Finally, it is important to note that the Commission has an obligation, when assessing national social climate plans, to ensure that all measures and investments fully respect the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
