On Friday 11 November, the European Commission approved the ‘Territorial Just Transition Plans’ of the French regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Grand-Est. In total, the regions will receive €190 million in grants from the Just Transition Fund (JTF) to mitigate the socio-economic consequences of decarbonising their polluting industries.
In concrete terms, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes will benefit from €78 million which will be concentrated on the departments of Isère and Rhône. As for Grand-Est, €112 million will be allocated to the departments of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Moselle and Haut-Rhin.
While both regions have many carbon-intensive industries, the investments in the plans will be aimed at creating new businesses and technologies that work to provide clean and affordable energy. The investments will also support research and retraining of workers.
The JTF supports territories dependent on fossil fuels in diversifying their economy. With Member States struggling to develop their territorial plans (see EUROPE 13051/15) and EU support measures for coal regions in the 2014-2020 period delivering mixed results, the Court of Auditors has called on the Commission to ensure that the implementation of the JTF be effective (see EUROPE 13060/11). (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)