IndustriAll Europe’s Executive Committee concluded yesterday, having adopted several important positions that will enable our organisation to shape the European political debate and speak with a united voice on topics that are crucial for our members.
The fight for a green and just transition was a key theme of the meeting entitled ‘Reconnecting for a Just Transition’ and has dominated much of the organisation’s agenda for the past year. We made clear throughout, and in line with the decision of our Executive Committee in November 2020, that industriAll Europe supports the ambition of reaching climate neutrality by 2050 if a Just Transition is guaranteed and if social partners are given the chance to anticipate possible disruptive changes for industrial value chains and related jobs in Europe.
With the publication of the Fit for 55 Package on 14 July 2021, the European Commission has finally put forward an extensive and ambitious package of 13 legislative proposals that aim to bring EU climate policy in line with the emissions reduction target for 2030. In its meeting on 30 November/1 December, industriAll Europe adopted a position with an initial reaction to the vast Fit for 55 Package. This paper outlines industriAll Europe’s initial view on the package and some of the key proposals it contains.
The paper affirms that industriAll Europe and its members see their role in trying to ensure that climate policies do not jeopardise the jobs and the working and living conditions of industrial workers. They want the Fit for 55 Package and its implementation to stimulate investment, create quality jobs, provide health and environmental benefits to EU citizens, while working to keep and develop strong industrial value chains in Europe through the promotion of innovation.
Our position thus details important concerns about insufficient tools and resources to deal with the consequences for workers of the accelerated push for decarbonisation in Europe. It also raises serious concerns about the impact on purchasing power, inflation, poverty, as well as on employment. We are also concerned about the impact some proposals might have on social inequalities, especially in Europe’s poorest regions.
The industriAll Europe position furthermore calls for:
- a legal framework for the anticipation of change through workers’ participation
- a sound industrial policy
- a fair global regime based on a level playing field and international justice
- the tackling of rising energy prices
The position paper provides a solid basis for our continuous political lobbying for climate policies that follow Just Transition principles at European level and our affiliates’ political work at national level.
In that context, industriAll Europe’s Executive Committee made a positive assessment of our recent Europe-wide mobilisation for a Just Transition in the form of two action weeks.
It also approved the next steps in our campaign that foresee a range of regional roundtables on Just Transition, the adoption of a Just Transition manifesto and a European event in Spring 2022. The next campaign highlight will be the launch of the Automotive Just Transition Coalition on 7 December. This unique coalition brings together European trade union federations, employers and industry associations, and environmental NGOs, to push for a Just Transition framework for Europe’s automotive workforce and the 16 million workers in Europe’s mobility eco-system.
Video report of industriAll Europe’s Just Transition action weeks: