Energy minister Tinne van der Straeten has told Euronews she hopes to secure inter-governmental recognition of the benefits of local energy cooperatives this week, at the last energy summit of Belgium’s six-month EU Council presidency. Van der Straeten, a Green in Belgium’s diverse coalition government, was speaking on Tuesday (28 May) after signing an NGO manifesto calling on the next European Parliament and EU executive to promote energy communities, arguing that potential ‘energy citizens’ could invest up to €240bn in the energy transition by 2030. Energy communities are voluntary, cooperat…