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.

There is a clear political and business interest in strengthening the cooperation between the cities of Tallinn and Helsinki, and Estonia and Finland respectively, in terms of research, innovation and economic development (Twin cities mindset). A recent policy report by OECD suggests to extend the definition of Tallinn-Helsinki cross-border area to the greater Helsinki (Uusimaa), and Estonia to the entire country, considering the comparable population (1.3-1.4 m), Helsinki’s close scientific and innovation ties to Tartu, the Estonian second largest city, and the fact that innovation policies are implemented at national level in Estonia whereas regional level in Finland. Building on the political, social and economical support both in Estonia as well as in Helsinki city, this proposal provides a good opportunity to kick-start a closer cooperation through the planning and development of a Smart City Centre of Excellence joint venture in Tallinn. The ICT driven Smart City CoE would act as a hub capable of combining the scientific knowledge, innovation capacity and entrepreneurship of all relevant actors in Estonia and the greater Helsinki region. This proposed FINEST TWINS joint venture is based on smart specialisation strategies and marks a new model for close cooperation. Estonia will benefit from Helsinki region expertise, its living labs methodologies knowledge and public-private multiple ventures as Helsinki is one of the top European Smart Cities. Helsinki will also benefit from Estonia public innovativeness in the uptake of e-Government services, overall agility and comprehensive citizens capacity to embrace new digital service solutions, making it one of the best test-beds in the world. The CoE will be the first EU cross border Smart City solutions and demo lab capable of provide urban services and attract international expertise and investment, as well as, act as a springboard for the exportation of Finnish-Estonian knowledge and service solutions on a global scale.

Concerted Action EPBD V aim to support the implementation of the Energy Performance in Buildings Directive through exchange of information and experience among Member States and other participating countries (Norway) with regards to the implementation of the specific European Union legislation and policy on the energy performance of buildings, and in particular with regards to the transposition and implementation of the re-cast of the EPBD (DIRECTIVE 2010/31/EU) and the on-going revision of this directive. The specific objectives are to: 1. Enhance and structure sharing of information and experience from national implementation and promote good practice in activities required of Member States for implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). 2. Create favourable conditions for faster convergence of national procedures on EPBD-related matters. 3. Develop a direct link with the other two buildings-related Concerted Actions established within the IEE programme: the CA-RES, focussing on transposition and implementation of the Renewable Energy Systems Directive (DIRECTIVE 2009/28/EC); and the CA-EED, focusing on transposition and implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive (DIRECTIVE 2012/27/EU), where National Energy Plans include initiatives towards building energy efficiency. 4. Supplement the work of the Article 26 Committee and possible ad-hoc groups on CEN (European Committee for Standardization) standards and certification exercises. 5. Establish a dialogue with the CEN in the implementation of 2nd generation standards to support the implementation of the recast EPBD and its revision. 6. Support for European Member States and Norway to use National Energy Plans to report progress on the EPBD implementation. The CAV_EPBD will strive to result in a more harmonized approach, improved implementation and actual application of the EPBD in all the countries involved, as well as helping to disseminate best practices between the countries.

The “Once-Only” Principle Project (TOOP) explores and demonstrates the “once-only” principle through multiple sustainable pilots, using a federated architecture on a cross-border collaborative pan-European scale in order to identify drivers and barriers and to provide a basis for future implementations and wider use. Three pilots are implemented: (1) Cross-border e-Services for Business Mobility, (2) Updating Connected Company Data and (3) Online Ship and Crew Certificates. TOOP has the ambition to connect 59 information systems from 21 countries. The methodological approach of TOOP is based on an exploratory and agile pilot life-cycle approach to cross-border pilots, the planning and implementation of which is supported by the development of a generic federated architecture and building blocks, the identification and mitigation of barriers, including legal issues, and the evaluation of the results, with pro-active dissemination and sustainable exploitation of the results throughout the project. TOOP’s main technological innovation is a generic federated OOP architecture that supports the interconnection and interoperability of national registries at the EU level. The pilots planned are ambitious as they contain innovations and provide a basis for recommendations for future implementations and the wider use of the OOP. The project is an important learning environment for OOP in particular and European e-Government in general. The pilots are scalable and can be extended to all Member States in subsequent years. TOOP’s consortium of 51 organisations consists of 19 national administrations (or authorized thereby) from 19 different EU Member States and 2 Associated Countries. The public administrations provide effective piloting, research partners make sure that the key preconditions for effective piloting are met, and private entities support exploitation, all complementing each other in the whole range of activities and areas dealt with in TOOP.

The FABULOS PCP focuses on how the cities can use autonomous buses in a systemic way. Cities, such as Helsinki, already have a relatively integrated public transportation system,although not capable of absorbing or utilizing RTI in a systemic way for smart routing and such. Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) of Operation of an autonomous minibus service, for a specific line/zone in urban environment. Leading European Smart Cities have been running some of the world's first autonomous buses on open streets. The FABULOS PCP goal is to push the market to creation of smart systems for the management of autonomous electric bus fleet operations and related services, in urban environments This sort of intelligent transportation systems and integrated transportation approaches, are key to enable a sustainable development of public transportation and for cities to be able to become car free in a foreseeable future. Autonomous buses are a key part of this future. The robotic bus technology is fast approaching its market readiness stage; however current transportation systems are not equipped to deal with such type of transportation. The management of autonomous fleet as part of public transport is missing. Also some parts of the driving automation need to mature. The PCP should now focus on how the cities can use autonomous buses in a systemic way. Cities, such as Helsinki, already have a relatively integrated public transportation system, although not capable of absorbing or utilizing RTI in a systemic way for smart routing and such. In order to capitalize on the potential of autonomous buses, Cities should combine efforts in pushing the market to develop system solutions capable of bridging autonomous bus technologies and the cities public transportation systems, helping them to become smarter in the process, and also helping to open up demand for the autonomous vehicles industry.