Ensuring that no one is left behind in the transition to a climate-neutral economy will require significant investment. The Just Transition Mechanism (JTM) is expected to mobilise around €55 billion in the period 2021–2027 to support the regions, sectors and workers most-affected by the transition.
On this page, you can find information funding under the JTM’s three pillars as well as relevant technical assistance.
The first pillar of the Just Transition Mechanism is the Just Transition Fund (JTF). Through the JTF, the Commission primarily supports through grants territories most negatively impacted by the transition to a climate-neutral economy.
The JTF is established by the JTF Regulation and governed by the Common Provisions Regulation. It is implemented under shared management, under the overall framework of cohesion policy.
The Fund is equipped with EUR €19.2 billion in current prices and it is expected to mobilise around EUR €25.4 billion in investments with national co-financing and voluntary transfers from other funds. Member States may also voluntarily transfer additional resources to the JTF from national allocations under the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund Plus, provided the total amount transferred does not exceed three times the JTF allocation.
The aim of the JTF is to alleviate the socio-economic costs triggered by the transition towards climate-neutrality, supporting the economic diversification and reconversion of the most-affected territories and helping people to adapt in a changing labour market.
Support can be provided to:
For detailed scope of support, please check the Regulation (EU) 2021/1056 establishing the Just Transition Fund (Art. 8). All activities to be funded should contribute to alleviating the socio-economic impact towards climate-neutrality and be justified in the description of the transition process in the’ Territorial Just Transition Plans (TJTPs).
For more information on what can be funded, please also refer to the Commission’s Staff Working Document on the Territorial Just Transition Plans.
When the investments are not related to the transition’s impacts, regions may consider other funding sources such as the European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund.
As with other Cohesion Policy funds, the JTF is governed under shared management. The Commission and each Member State must adopt a Partnership Agreement and one or several programmes for the 2021-2027 period. As part of their Cohesion Policy programmes, Member States must also prepare strategic TJTPs.
Once the programmes including the TJTPs are adopted, national or regional authorities are responsible for selecting the projects to be funded. Specific questions on application procedures may be addressed directly to the managing authorities.
The second pillar of the Just Transition Mechanism is a dedicated InvestEU scheme, which helps to crowd in private investment.
InvestEU can support investments in the framework of TJTPs in a wide range of projects, such as projects for energy and transport infrastructure, including gas infrastructure and district heating, as well as decarbonisation projects, economic diversification and social infrastructure.
The European Commission will provide a budgetary guarantee to implementing partners to provide financing directly or indirectly to project promoters located in just transition territories with an approved TJTP.
Projects not located in those territories can also benefit from the scheme, provided that those projects contribute to meeting the development needs stemming from the transition of those territories as set out in the relevant TJTP.
The InvestEU Advisory Hub will act as a central entry point for those seeking advisory and technical assistance for projects under pillars 2 and 3 of the JTM, as well as for some projects to be financed under the JTF.
Managed by the Commission and financed by the EU budget, it provides tailor-made technical assistance and capacity-building support, depending on the needs of the project promoter. The hub connects project promoters and intermediaries with advisory partners, who work together directly to help projects reach the financing stage.
The InvestEU Advisory Hub complements the InvestEU Fund by supporting the identification, preparation and development of investment projects across the EU, as well as the capacity-building of project promoters. The InvestEU Portal brings together investors and project promoters on a single EU-wide database of investment opportunities.
The third pillar of the Just Transition Mechanism is the public sector loan facility, established by Regulation (EU) 2021/1229. The facility leverages public financing to support projects that do not generate a sufficient stream of revenues to cover their investment costs.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide up to €10 billion in loans as finance partner, while the Commission will provide up to €1.5 billion in grants. These loans and grants will support public sector entities to meet their development needs in the transition towards a climate-neutral economy.
The grant component will be provided and managed by DG REGIO, assisted by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). You can read more about the EIB’s role in the JTM in this article. Further details about grants will be made available on CINEA’s website.
The public sector loan facility will be available to all public sector entities through an open call for proposals.
Applications may be made by any public sector entity wishing to finance a project located in, or benefitting, a just transition territory identified in a TJTP.
In this case, a public sector entity means a legal entity established in a Member State either as a public law body or a body governed by private law entrusted with a public service mission.
In order to receive a grant, funding applications must demonstrate the compliance of the project with the relevant Territorial Just Transition Plan, showing how they address development needs stemming from the transition.
Each Member State has a national share under the public sector loan facility, reserved until December 2025 (see table below). Any amount not used by then will be made available on a competitive basis to projects across all Member States.
| NATIONAL SHARE (percentage of total) |
NATIONAL SHARE (in millions EUR) |
|
|---|---|---|
| BE | 0.95 % | 13.85 |
| BG | 6.73 % | 98.25 |
| CZ | 8.53 % | 124.54 |
| DK | 0.46 % | 6.75 |
| DE | 12.88 % | 187.98 |
| EE | 1.84 % | 26.85 |
| IE | 0.44 % | 6.41 |
| EL | 4.31 % | 62.97 |
| ES | 4.52 % | 65.91 |
| FR | 5.35 % | 78.14 |
| HR | 0.97 % | 14.10 |
| IT | 5.35 % | 78.12 |
| CY | 0.53 % | 7.67 |
| LV | 1.00 % | 14.54 |
| LT | 1.42 % | 20.73 |
| LU | 0.05 % | 0.70 |
| HU | 1.36 % | 19.81 |
| MT | 0.12 % | 1.77 |
| NL | 3.24 % | 47.28 |
| AT | 0.71 % | 10.30 |
| PL | 20.00 % | 291.90 |
| PT | 1.16 % | 16.98 |
| RO | 11.12 % | 162.34 |
| SI | 1.34 % | 19.63 |
| SK | 2.39 % | 34.83 |
| FI | 2.42 % | 35.33 |
| SE | 0.81 % | 11.82 |
| TOTAL | 100.0 % | 1,459.50 |
The public sector loan facility can support investments in a wide range of sectors, including:
Investments in other sectors may also be supported if they are consistent with the approved Territorial Just Transition Plans.
Public sector entities may submit funding proposals for eligible projects via the funding & tenders opportunities portal, where the Commission will publish a call for proposals.
Successful applicants will receive both a grant from the Commission and a loan from the EIB, so proposals must first be selected for a grant by the Commission and then receive approval for a loan after assessment by the EIB.
Potential beneficiaries may request advisory support for the preparation, development and implementation of eligible projects, including support before submitting a funding proposal. Requests should be addressed to the InvestEU Advisory Hub.
The following EU funding instruments may also be relevant for programmes and projects seeking financial support:
In March 2020, the Commission launched a call under the Structural Reform Support Programme for requests to assist Member States with the preparation of their Territorial Just Transition Plans.
Through this programme, the Commission has provided hands-on support to regions to help prepare long-term economic strategies for their transition away from coal.
As mentioned under pillar 2 above, the InvestEU Advisory Hub will act as a central entry point for those seeking advisory and technical assistance for projects under pillars 2 and 3 of the JTM, as well as for some projects to be financed under the JTF.
Technical assistance is also delivered to a number of territories in the EU through the Initiative for Coal Regions in Transition.
There are several other technical assistance schemes of relevance to the just transition, as described below.
The TARGET technical assistance facility aims to support EU coal, peat and oil shale regions with the identification and preparation of clean energy and energy efficiency projects. TARGET will support sustainable investments and local jobs moving away from fossil fuel-based activities. The facility was developed jointly by the Commission’s DG ENER and the EIB to support a just transition in EU coal, peat and oil shale regions, complementing existing mechanisms such as the JTM and other technical assistance schemes.
JASPERS is a partnership between the Commission and the EIB. Combined in JASPERS, the policy expertise of the Commission and the project experience of the EIB are available to beneficiaries of cohesion policy funds (including the Just Transition Fund), under JASPERS’ main mandate from DG REGIO. JASPERS’ advisory function covers all aspects of project development, horizontal issues relevant to more than one project or country, and other aspects such as capacity building and implementation. Capacity building is a key success factor for the JTF, as less experienced regional authorities connect with first-time beneficiaries who also have limited experience of project preparation.
The Commission's TSI, managed by DG REFORM, provides tailor-made technical support to EU Member States to design and implement reforms. The TSI provides technical support in a wide range of policy areas, including regulatory and administrative reforms related to the just transition. The support is demand driven and does not require co-financing from Member States. Member States may request support under the TSI via a national Coordinating Authority. Further information about the Instrument and its calls is available on the TSI website.
ELENA is a joint initiative by the EIB and the Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme. Established in 2009, the ELENA facility has awarded more than €180 million of EU support, mobilising an estimated investment of over €6.6 billion. ELENA provides technical assistance for energy efficiency and renewable energy investments targeting buildings and innovative urban transport. A team of experts, consisting of engineers and economists with extensive experience in the energy and transport sectors, leads the ELENA facility.
