On Thursday 2 May, Greens/EFA MEPs Bas Eickhout (Netherlands), Michael Bloss (Germany) and Sara Matthieu (Belgium) published their proposal for a “Green Industrial Deal”. Their argument is that the EU has to capitalise on its transition to reindustrialise the continent and create jobs. Following the European Council’s proposal for a “European Competitiveness Deal” (see EUROPE 13394/1), the three elected representatives have set out their vision, which places greater emphasis on the circular economy and the deployment of renewable energies.
To ensure the transition, the EU must rely on revenues from the Emissions Trading System (ETS), as well as the creation of a Green Transition Fund, according to the three MEPs.
In their opinion, this should be funded by a joint borrowing scheme and amount to at least 1% of European GDP. “As opposed to the Recovery and Resilience Facility launched in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we need to work on European instruments that target companies the same way in every Member State”, insist the authors of the document. The Green Transition Fund should also be subject to conditions and allow for private co-financing.
According to MEPs, the current State aid regime does not make it possible to achieve the objective of a just transition and the reindustrialisation of Europe, hence why they are calling for greater coordination between the EU27.
On the other hand, the EU must also encourage the use of green products through a number of actions, including: - deploying ‘green iron’, which will be used in many end products such as vehicles; - using green criteria as part of public procurement; - asking major private players to make their equipment greener.
The Green Industrial Deal will create hundreds of thousands of high-quality jobs, according to the authors of the document. They suggest transforming the SURE instrument into an employment transition fund. This could, for example, support an adequate minimum income.
See the document: https://aeur.eu/f/c1q (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)