The launch of these common demands from a coalition of unusual bedfellows shows that there is recognition in industry and environmental circles that the social dimension – the Just Transition – is vital for the success of the Green Deal’s objectives.
Earlier in the year, industriAll Europe and the Just Transition Centre joined forces with a broader coalition including employers and environmental organisations, all supporting the objective of climate neutrality by 2050 and the need for increased ambition in 2030 to reach this.
Ahead of the European Parliament committee’s scrutiny of the European Commission’s Fit for 55 Package, the coalition is launching a joint briefing with a common set of demands for a Just Transition framework for the automotive and mobility sectors, an eco-system that employs 16 million workers in Europe.
The launch event on 7 December is co-hosted by MEPs Mohammed Chahim /Agnes Jongerius (S&D, Netherlands), Michal Wiezik (EPP, Slovakia), Michael Bloss (Greens, Germany), and will hear from trade unions, environmentalists and industry their common call for action for a Just Transition framework built on:
- Mapping of employment impacts at company, regional and national levels to ensure effective skills intelligence and anticipation of change.
- Policy support and exchanges of best practices: the extension of the Just Transition Platform to the scope of the European Green Deal.
- Transition planning and social dialogue, including negotiated transition plans at company, regional and sectoral levels, and strengthening of social dialogue through binding social conditionality on access to EU funds.
- Adequate resources for active labour market policies, including retraining and upskilling, through a dedicated fund for the mobility ecosystem.
Judith Kirton-Darling, Deputy General Secretary of industriAll Europe:
“The green transformation is not only a technological challenge, it is first and foremost a social challenge for the millions of workers who are impacted – notably in the automotive and mobility industries. Europe’s regional and political cohesion is at stake if we fail to deliver a Just Transition along the related supply chains. But all too often, the social dimension is seen as an optional extra. The launch of these common demands from a coalition of unusual bedfellows shows that there is recognition in industry and environmental circles that the social dimension – the Just Transition – is vital for the success of the Green Deal’s objectives.’’
Samantha Smith, Director of the Just Transition Centre, adds:
“Change is already here for the auto sector and everyone working in it, in every part of the world. How Europe gets a Just Transition for auto workers will set an important precedent for auto workers everywhere. This broad coalition shows that there is very strong support for a European framework on Just Transition and for our core demands – social dialogue, decent jobs with rights and skills, and social protection.”
Press Release: EN
Joint briefing ‘Delivering the just transition: the social gap in the Fit for 55 Package for automotive workers and workers in the wider mobility eco-system': EN, DE, FR
Invitation to the launch event on 7 December: EN
Contacts: Andrea Husen-Bradley (press and communication, industriAll Europe), Elena Crasta (Just Transition Centre)