Green MEPs present vision on a Green Industrial Deal

“To achieve the goals at the speed and scale required, we need buy-in from workers and citizens. This will require massive reskilling in innovative manufacturing methods, in particular renewables and reuse and recycling of materials. We will also require robust social safety nets for workers in transition as well as social conditions for public investments.”

Ghent, May 2nd 2024 - Today, Bas Eickhout, Sara Matthieu and Michael Bloss, Greens/EFA Members of European Parliament from The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, present their plans for a Green Industrial Deal. They will do so together with representatives from industry, trade unions, EU-institutions, think tanks and NGOs.

Industrial policy has moved to the top of the European political agenda and the Greens in the European Parliament, support this development. For many years the Greens have argued to make green industrial policy a top priority, as it is both an indispensable tool and an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen the EU's resilience, create new jobs, and help us meet our climate and environmental targets.

Europe has to build a robust foundation to deal with geopolitical shocks, swiftly deal with the climate and pollution crisis and ensure economic prosperity now and in the future.
This requires not less, but more European action. Therefore, a Green Industrial Deal should absolutely take center stage in the upcoming mandate of the European Parliament and Commission.

The action plan presented today calls for robust strategic choices, more European coordination and executive power, common European investments in infrastructure and decarbonisation, stronger market policies for green and circular products and a strengthening of the social agenda. These are the key elements of a Green industrial Deal.

Bas Eickhout: “Europe is competing in a global race for green technologies and climate neutrality, and at the same time conservative forces are launching an attack on the Green Deal, calling for dismantling climate policies and deregulation. This will be detrimental to our industrial competitiveness and the clarity industry so-much needs and demands. Instead, we need to step up European action on all fronts. The Green Deal is far from completed, we need to make the transition a reality by closing our climate investment gap and overcoming nationalistic rhetoric with European coordination. We need to build a pro-European agenda for industry. With our plan, we want to invite all stakeholders to work together on a Green Industrial Deal, which should form the basis for our work in the coming 5 years.”

Sara Matthieu: “To achieve the goals at the speed and scale required, we need buy-in from workers and citizens. This will require massive reskilling in innovative manufacturing methods, in particular renewables and reuse and recycling of materials. We will also require robust social safety nets for workers in transition as well as social conditions for public investments. For us, it’s essential that businesses receiving public money have to respect collective bargaining agreements and workers’ rights.”

Michael Bloss: "The European Union is the guarantor of our prosperity. In order to maintain Europe's economic strength, we need a genuine European industrial policy. In competition with the USA and China, the 27 individual states have no chance; we can only achieve this together as the European Union. To speed up the transition and fully grasp all opportunities it offers, we need a triad of European coordination, targeted regulatory and pricing policies and new investments.
The most sustainable products also need to be the cheapest ones. Carbon pricing plays a role here but it is also clear, that the market cannot solve this on its own. We need to guarantee stable demand for green products to incentives a swift transition. We have to agree on common standards for green goods and ramp up lead markets green products such as green steel."