December 1 2022

Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), CEE Bankwatch, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), WWF EU Policy Office and SOLIDAR organised, on 30 November, a stakeholder meeting aiming to assess the state of the Territorial Just Transition Plans and discuss how their implementation can ensure more inclusion, transparency and strategic advancement of a Just Transition in Europe.

The Territorial Just Transition Plans (TJTPs) are part of the Just Transition Mechanism adopted in the framework of the European Green Deal. The submission of the TJTPs and the process of drafting them have revealed significant divergences with regard to their inclusiveness and detail.

This closed-door event was an opportunity for people working on the TJTPs to meet and discuss these discrepancies. Experts, campaigners, members of civil society and decision makers from the local to EU level gathered to provide invaluable insights on the lay of the land. 

As the plans are entering the implementation phase, policymakers and civil society representatives can benefit from academic work that singles out the factors that led to successful and inclusive transitions in past contexts, in order to contribute to and further scrutinize the implementation of the plans. Notably, key answers were provided to the following questions: 

• What lessons can be drawn from past regional transition processes for the implementation phase of the TJTPs?
• Which criteria can be used to differentiate successful from unsuccessful transitions?
• Which channels of influence and strategies can progressive actors like unions and civil society organizations adopt to make their voices heard?

Workshops analyzing the scale and type of transition at work in different contexts, and its interlinkage with European social policy, complemented the work presented. Space was given to sharing information and experiences around thematic clusters such as transparency, inclusiveness, capacity-building, and strategy.

The event ended with a panel of institutional representatives on the direction of travel for European social policy in the context of the Territorial Just Transition Plans, with the goal of achieving policy coherence as a precondition for viewing TJTPs as a springboard to a broader reorientation of EU policies.

Speakers

WELCOMING REMARKS
• Mikael Leyi, SOLIDAR Secretary General
• Reghina Dimitrisina, FES Just Climate Competence Centre

RESEARCH UPDATE
Analysis of the TJTPs: What kind and what scale of transition?
• Michiel Stapper, Assistant Professor, Tilburg University
Discussants:
• Katie Treadwell, WWF, Senior Energy Policy Officer
• Sander Happaerts, Just Transition Fund, European Commission, Policy coordinator
Open exchange with participants
Moderation: Jens Hunsbeth Schreuder, CEE BankWatch, EU Just Transition Policy Officer

PROSPECTIVE SESSION
Territorial justice for a socially inclusive transition
• Sotiria Theodoropoulou, Head of unit European economic, employment and social policies / Senior Researcher, European Trade Union Institute
• David Rinaldi, FEPS Director of Studies and Policy