With the aim of boosting investment in start-ups and sustainable urban development, the European Commission has recently launched two new financial instuments. One of the aims of these is to encourage the regeneration of urban areas.

On 30 November 2015, the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) together with the Danish consultancy Ramboll evaluated the contributions of the 2007-2013 Cohesion Policy programmes to energy efficiency in public and residential buildings on behalf of the European Commission.