The objective of the 2nd Concerted Action for the Energy Efficiency Directive (CA-EED 2) is to foster exchange of information and experience among Member States and other participating countries (Norway) with a view to facilitating to the implementation of the Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on energy efficiency (EED), including the implementation of the foreseen re-cast of this Directive. The specific objectives of the Action are: • To enhance and structure the sharing of information and experiences from national implementation whilst promoting good practice concepts in activities to improve and strengthen MS implementation of the EED. • To encourage dialogue between MS on common approaches for the effective implementation of particular parts of the EED. • To complement the work of the EED Committee assisting the European Commission. The expected impact of the Action consists of a more harmonized approach and improved implementation of the EED in all MS, as well as the transfer of good practices between countries. The objectives of the CA-EED 2 will be achieved by organising information exchange via amongst others 8 structured plenary meetings for coverage of the various topics. The meetings will allow experts from implementing bodies and ministries in the MS to discuss and exchange views, and aim to achieve as much convergence of objectives and methodologies as appropriate, avoiding redundant efforts and maximizing the benefits that can be obtained from the work otherwise required from individual MS working on their own. A large part of the work in the CA-EED 2 will be done in the sessions during the plenary meetings, focussing on good practice examples, but also through Working Groups that interact between the meetings and exchange of information through the forum on the CA-EED website. In order to structure the topics covered by the EED Expert Areas have been identified encompassing the main areas of the EED.

The North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley – NAHV project builds on the LoI signed in March 2022 by representatives of the Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure, Croatian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) Autonomous Region in Italy, contributing to the European Green Deal and European Hydrogen Strategy goals. The project’s high-level objective is the creation of a hydrogen-based economic, social and industrial ecosystem based on the capacity of the quadruple helix actors. This will drive economic growth, generating new job opportunities in the framework of both the green and digital transitions and, by creating the conditions for wider EU replicability, it will contribute to the creation of a European Hydrogen Economy, To fulfil these objectives the NAHV project involves a well-rooted partnership of 36 organizations (of which 2 in Hydrogen Europe, 3 in Hydrogen Europe Research), covering the transnational Central European area of 3 territories - Slovenia, Croatia and FVG Region, demonstrating cross-border integration of hydrogen production, distribution and consumption, and exchange of over 20% of NAHV annual hydrogen production of over 5000 tons. The project will activate 17 testbed applications in their related ecosystems, clustered in 3 main pillars - hard to abate, energy and transport sectors. These will act as real-life cases for piloting global hydrogen markets, moving from TRL 6 at the beginning to TRL 8 at the end of the project. Four fuel cell applications in the energy and transport sectors will be demonstrated. Testbeds will then be scaled up at industrial level as a replicable model, contributing to the decarbonisation of the 3 territories by harnessing renewables to improve system resilience, security of supply and energy independence. Replicability will also be ensured for the whole NAHV model, with the uptake of at least 5 additional hydrogen valleys in Europe, particularly in Central and South Eastern Europe.

Being one of the main actions of the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, the European Biodiversity Partnership (Biodiversa+) will coordinate research programmes between EU and its Member States and Associated Countries, mobilising environmental authorities as key partners for implementing biodiversity research and innovation, along with ministries of research, funding organisations, and environmental protection agencies (75 organisations from 37 countries). Biodiversa+ has five overarching objectives: (1) improve monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem services across Europe (status and trends); (2) generate actionable knowledge to tackle the direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss; (3) expand and improve the evidence base, and accelerate the development and wide deployment of NbS to meet societal challenges across Europe; (4) make the business case for the conservation and restoration of biodiversity; and (5) ensure efficient science-based support for biodiversity policy making in Europe. Biodiversa+ will meet these objectives by (i) setting up a pan-European network of harmonized monitoring schemes, building on existing national/regional monitoring schemes, creating capacity for setting up new schemes, and feeding into the EC Knowledge Center for Biodiversity; (ii) coordinating research programmes between the EU and its Member States and associated countries, thereby ensuring the long-term pan-European research agenda is co-created and implemented; (iii) contributing science-based methodologies to account for and possibly value ecosystem services and the natural capital, and to assess the dependency and impact of businesses on biodiversity and (iv) better linking of R&I programmes to the policy arena, providing greater input to policy making and improving the assessment of policy efficiency. Doing so, Biodiversa+ will help ensure that, by 2030, nature in Europe is back on a path of recovery, and by 2050 people are living in harmony with Nature.

The objective of the 3rd Concerted Action on the Energy Efficiency Directive (CA EED3) is to foster exchange of information and experience among Member States and other participating countries (Norway) with a view to facilitating the implementation of the Directive of 2018/2002 amending Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on energy efficiency (EED), including the implementation of the foreseen recast of this Directive . The Action follows on from the CA ESD, CA EED and CA-EED 2 which has helped MS with the interpretation of the legislation, the implementation options and support via detailed information and access to experts on mature policies and practices. The specific objectives of the Action are: • To enhance and structure the sharing of information and experiences from national implementation whilst promoting good practice concepts in activities to improve and strengthen MS implementation of the EED. • To encourage dialogue between MS on common approaches for the effective implementation of particular parts of the EED and synergies with RED and EPBD. • To complement the work of the EED Committee assisting the European Commission. The expected impact of the Action consists of a more harmonized approach and improved implementation of the EED in MS, as well as the transfer of good practices between countries and strengthened cross fertilisation with CA EPBD and CA RES. The CA EED3 brings together a unique group of experts and policy makers, it is the only informal group with full representation of all Member States and Norway and by its very nature provides MS, DG Energy and CINEA with a unique opportunity to communicate in an informal way on a technical level with relevant experts. The Concerted Action community has developed during the course of the CA ESD, CA EED and CA-EED 2 making it easy to find entry points in MS where without the Action contacts would be difficult. In turn the road is paved for bilateral cooperation.

The Concerted Action supports the implementation of the RES directive. In particular, the Concerted Action facilitates sharing experience and good practice of implementation, finding common approaches as well as cross-learning and cooperation. The work carried out within the CA-RES is designed to meet the needs of RES Directive implementing organisations. The action will provide added value compared with measures taken by each MS acting on its own. The Concerted Action will help make knowledge available to all participants through access to a network of national experts engaged in implementation of the Directive. The CA-RES4 will do this through a structured framework that will facilitate the exchange of information and experience through a series of meetings and other communication tools. It will provide participants with an opportunity to learn from others implementation process and policy approaches and build national policy capacity, but also to explore opportunities for bi-lateral or multi-lateral cooperation and identify areas for possible future convergence and harmonised approaches amongst participating countries. The CA-RES4 builds upon the success and structures of the previous phases of the CA. The CA-RES community has developed during the course of the previous phases into a unique network of experts and will be strengthened. The objective is to provide participating countries with the most pertinent information that may lead them on the most efficient path towards an effective implementation of the RES Directive 2018/2001/EC in the EU. The expected impact of the Action consists of a more harmonized approach and improved implementation of the RED II in participating countries, a strengthened network of experts as well as the transfer of good practices between countries.