Brussels - Europe is currently experiencing a serious crisis unprecedented in its history, with even the existence of the single currency and the Union itself now being questioned. In the energy sector, news of a "no" to the plan many relied on since it contained extremely important provisions for better management of resources, was certainly not encouraging. There is still, however, a desire to move forward with programmes addressed at improving energy efficiency, which are centred on local administrations and could lead to significant improvements. A few days ago the Pact of Islands was signed in Brussels by the representatives of island communities in the European Union, which have decided to join it.
Both Sicily and Sardinia joined for Italy. This pact will bind regional administrations to achieve sustainability objectives by 2020 with the objective of reducing CO2 emissions. It will be compulsory for the islands to draft a sustainable energy action plan (ISEAP) that includes an inventory of basic emissions so as to indicate how objectives will be achieved and how effective priority projects will be. Intervention will be monitored every two years by presenting the action plan so as to assess and verify all measures implemented.