ENERGY - Insights from Brussels

Véronique Marx (Team Leader for Just Transition and Energy Poverty at DG ENER) and Brieuc Posnic (International Relations Officer) from the European Commission have both been closely involved with the Initiative. They look back to the beginnings of the Initiative and ahead to what they hope it will achieve in the coming years.

date: 20/02/2024

At the outset of the Initiative for Coal Regions in Transition, the topic of just and fair transition was not a widely known one. The European Commission has championed the notion and brought it to the fore. Véronique Marx underscores that the Initiative played a critical part in making just transition an established principle. In this vein, Brieuc Posnic outlines some of the just transition goals at the Initiative’s core: “we need…people to understand the specific challenges of coal regions, how the socio-economic fabric of these regions is so unique and rich, and how the human capital present locally needs to be leveraged to create a transition that is owned by the people, that they embrace because it benefits them all and preserves the community that was born from the solidarity between coal mining families.”

The Initiative has certainly met expectations in its first five years, paving the way for just transition to be at the heart of the European Green Deal, allowing for the creation of the Just Transition Mechanism and the generation of numerous related projects and movements across and beyond Europe.

Ms. Marx and Mr. Posnic are both optimistic about the future of the Initiative and the long-term impact of the changes it has mobilised. Leading up to 2030, “much of the just transition will have become a reality,” explains Ms. Marx. “These regions will have found a prosperous, green and healthy existence, where people will feel part of this green transition and will be pleased with what [it] has brought to them.”

EU coal+ regions are well-positioned to become emblematic of the just transition, and as Ms. Marx concludes, “they will still be the industrial powerhouses of the EU, as they are now, and for this, they need our continuous support.”