Shaken by various crises in recent years, which have revealed strategic weaknesses, the EU is committed to a transformation of its development model marked by the need to fight climate change, advance digitalization and promote sustainable economic growth. These developments will directly affect European regions and territories, which is why Renew Europe, in a report adopted today by the European Parliament meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg, has already started to work on the redesign of cohesion policy and the future framework of the Union's Structural Funds.
Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ (Ciudadanos, Spain), who initiated this report adopted by the plenary, declared: “My report welcomes the success of the Just Transition Fund, intended to help industrial regions whose companies are forced to decarbonize their production methods. We propose the renewal and amplification of the JTF after 2027 to cover regions and industries that are most affected by the twin green and digital transitions to ensure that we leave no one behind”.
The report pays particular attention to the situation in the automotive sector, in light of the transformation it must undergo in the coming years with the phase-out of the combustion engine by 2035. Indeed the sector is pivotal to the local economies of many of our regions, employing directly or indirectly a total of 13.8 million Europeans and is responsible for 7% of our Union’s GDP. The transition to sustainable mobility will have a huge impact on many of our regions and on the entire automotive value chain. This is why Renew Europe believes that we must mitigate its impact by helping regions upskill their workers and helping businesses, especially SMEs, to transform and adapt to the automotive transition.