Municipalities agree: want to become the first "Net Zero Valley"

The municipalities of Lusatia in Brandenburg and Saxony are united in their support for Lusatia's application to become the first climate-neutral model region - a so-called Net Zero Valley - in Europe. This was announced by the municipal alliance Lausitzrunde on Thursday after a closed meeting in Finsterwalde (Elbe-Elster). Two weeks ago in Brussels, a delegation of mayors presented the application as a transformation region to the European Commission to EU Commissioner Thierry Breton.

With the Net Zero Industry Act, Europe aims to strengthen the attractiveness of its business location through faster approval procedures, more targeted training and further education of and for skilled workers in net zero technologies and better market access for "Made-in-Europe" technologies.

EU funding would come at the right time

The "Net Zero Valley" Lusatia offers a new set of instruments to lead the structural change to far-reaching success, said Christine Herntier, spokesperson for the Brandenburg municipalities. This offers extraordinary opportunities for the "Lusatia region of the future", which would also include the acceleration of planning and approval procedures, said the Mayor of Weißwasser, Torsten Pötzsch, on behalf of the Saxon municipalities. The funding would come at the right time. "Because this and the allocation of structural funds, which is sometimes incomprehensible to us, are currently the major stumbling blocks in the current structural change process," he said.

Municipalities see support from the federal government

According to the alliance, the prospects for Lusatia to benefit from the EU's new Net Zero Industry Act are good. At the end of February, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) acknowledged the Lusatian municipalities' application and pledged his support. In the next step, the municipal representatives are expecting a visit from EU Commissioner Thierry Breton. "Then we will show that, together with industry and business associations, we are the right model region in Germany for an upcoming Net Zero Valley," said Herntier, who is also the mayor of Spremberg (Spree-Neisse).

The meeting between the Lusatian representatives and the responsible EU Commissioner came about through the mediation of Christian Ehler, a member of the European Parliament from Brandenburg. According to his own statements, he played a key role in the drafting of the law, in which the so-called net zero valleys are anchored. When asked by the German Press Agency, Ehler said that he had told EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about the meeting and Lusatia's ambitions. Von der Leyen had shown great interest.