Ensuring a Just Transition for all EU regions

The ECR Group in the European Committee of the Region (CoR) held today a workshop “Ensuring a Just Transition for all EU regions”, during which the ECR Group President Marco Marsilio presented his opinion on “A Just Transition for all EU regions”. The presentation was followed by a debate with the participation of Roberta Angelilli, Vice-President of the Lazio Region, Nicola De Michelis, Deputy Director-General for Programme Implementation, DG REGIO, European Commission, Małgorzata Jarosińska-Jedynak, Member of the Board of the Podkarpackie Region, Poland and Luciana Tomozei, Head of Global affairs and Sectoral policies Division at the Permanent Representation of the EIB in Brussels.

The EU’s ambitious transition to a sustainable, climate-neutral economy has increasingly profound implications for Europe’s regions, workers, industries and society at large. The transition requires socio-economic transformation, particularly in regions relying on fossil fuels and energy-intensive industries, threatening the traditional economic base of these regions.

In his draft opinion "A just transition for all EU regions", to be adopted at the CoR plenary session during the European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels, President Marsilio calls for expanding the 2021-2027 Just Transition Fund to include sectors like the automotive and supplier industries, while acknowledging the ongoing need for support in regions unable to complete their transition by 2027.

“If we want to achieve some of the most ambitious transition targets, for example in the automotive sector, we should stop banning productive activities that are in the process of transition, such as the production of combustion engine vehicles. Instead, we should put in place the right incentives and support research and innovation to new solutions, such as biofuels,” said President Marsilio.

Participants at the workshop exchanged views with the speakers and contributed to a fruitful discussion on the need to adjust the transition to the needs of local territories and by listening to the regional and local concerns while adapting to a new economic scenario.