Strengthening and Mainstreaming Just Transition Goals in the EU Budget

What role for a socially just green transition in the next European Union budget?  

In July 2024, Ursula von der Leyen’s Political Guidelines promised to significantly increase funding for a just transition in the next long-term EU budget. However, subsequent communications by the European Commission, such as the Clean Industrial Deal, have so far lacked clear investment commitments for a just transition. With the European Commission expected to publish its proposals for the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) on 16 July 2025, followed shortly by the sectoral proposals, the question remains: will the EU deliver on its promise? 

With the new MFF set to dominate the debate for the next two years, the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and SOLIDAR have produced a new policy brief outlining how the EU budget can drive a just transition in Europe. It was written by Amandine Crespy, Professor of Political Science at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and Tiago Moreira Ramalho, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the same institution. 

The policy brief analyses how the current MFF addresses a just transition and identifies five policy goals that should be incorporated into the EU budgetary planning: .

  1. Ensuring inclusive and participatory governance 
  2. Strengthening territorial resilience 
  3. Developing an eco-social security system 
  4. Preparing workers and communities for profound transformations 
  5. Investing in knowledge and governance capacity. 

The brief calls for a fundamental shift in how the EU allocates its resources, moving away from fragmented, compensatory approaches and towards an integrated strategy that links climate, social and economic policies. To this end, the brief recommends two strategies that should complement each other:  

  1. Reinforcing a dedicated funding instrument, such as a revamped Just Transition Fund (JTF 2.0), by merging the Just Transition Fund, the Innovation Fund, the Modernisation Fund and the Social Climate Fund. 
  1. Mainstreaming just transition objectives into all EU spending programmes. This includes making the environmental DNSH principle applicable to the entire EU budget, supplementing it with a social DNSH principle and earmarking 30% of all EU funds for eco-social objectives such as health, housing, income, work and mobility.

Moreover, the brief recommends: 

  • Creating an EU Just Transition Network as a permanent site for inclusive and active participation of relevant actors capable of influencing just transition strategies, monitoring the implementation of funds, and developing and sharing policy-making tools. 
  • Promoting local research on the socioeconomic realities of the transition to contribute to knowledge production, regional resilience and preparedness. 
  • Investing in policy and administrative capacity through substantial investment and technical support, especially for the more vulnerable regions and countries less equipped to develop innovative responses to the challenges of a just transition. 

You can read the full policy brief below or on the FEPS website.

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