The meeting, which gathered 180 high-level union representatives from across Europe, debated the challenges and crises that European industries are facing, and how unions can work together to ensure that the EU delivers a proactive industrial policy based on investment, solidarity, quality jobs and innovation.

The situation in Europe has become critical. Deindustrialisation is no longer a threat, but a reality. It is happening as a result of a lack of industrial policy at national as well as European level, bad corporate decisions and lagging investment and demand. 

This autumn, thousands of companies have announced possible plant closures, reduced production, and mothballing, particularly in the sectors where the need for transition is greatest, such as automotive and steel. 

The EU is tightening its fiscal rules and companies are demanding cheaper labour and deregulation. Strikes and demonstrations are taking place across Europe to sound the alarm on the dramatic prospects ahead. A return to austerity is the last thing we need now. Most countries in Europe lack national industrial plans. Consequently, workers are bearing the brunt. It provokes trade unions to see that the limited public funding, which is made available to companies, often goes straight into the pockets of the shareholders instead of being invested in future-oriented, decarbonised production. 

Europe urgently needs a proactive industrial policy based on investment, solidarity, quality jobs and innovation, in line with our climate commitments. To meet these mutually reinforcing challenges, we must now provide immediate solutions through an industrial plan for Europe. This plan must anticipate the impacts and prepare the necessary investments, secure workers' jobs and involve them in the choices that affect them.

In light of this, IndustriAll Europe is launching the second leg of its Good Industrial Jobs campaign, focused on investments, which was debated and approved by the Executive Committee. The aim is to build an industriAll Europe benchmark for what we want to see in a European Industrial Deal ahead of the presentation of the proposals from the new Commission which is due in February/March 2025 (within 100 days after the election of the new Commission).

IndustriAll Europe calls for 5 immediate actions to avoid deindustrialisation:

  1. Moratorium on scrapping industrial assets and forced redundancies: investing in workforce (creation of SURE 2.0)
  2. Reassessing fiscal rules to allow investments in social and green needs
  3. Using social conditionalities in public procurement to secure investment in sites
  4. Use of remaining NGEU & EU budget (2019-24) to bridge the investment gap
  5. Action to ensure the resilience of European industries, including measures to tackle global overcapacities and unfair trade, to secure investments in Europe’s transforming industries

And 5 investment demands to deliver a real European Industrial Deal in the first 100 days:

  1. A good industrial jobs compass for a Just Transition: investing in right to training
  2. An industrial plan for good industrial jobs in Europe: an investment plan with social conditionalities on all public funds and support 
  3. A right to energy for good industrial jobs and good lives: investment in grids and infrastructure 
  4. Democracy at work for good industrial jobs: investment in collective bargaining and worker participation
  5. Good industrial jobs guarantees along the global supply chain: investing in level playing field

Alongside the campaign, our Executive Committee adopted a detailed political position on how to fill the investment gap and ensure good industrial jobs. Actions should include:

  • A successor to NextGenerationEU with sufficient financing to safeguard a future-proof EU industry with quality jobs at its core.
  • The creation of a SURE 2.0 scheme, including social conditionalities on retraining and upskilling of the workforce.
  • A Green Deal Fund amounting to at least 1.6% of the EU GDP annually
  • A European Agency for Project Financing, involving social partners in its governance, ensuring that all EU funded projects are in line with strong social and environmental conditionalities.
  • Continuation of the Just Transition Fund beyond 2026, as well as a strengthening of InvestEU.