On 6 May 2025 took place the first EZA snack debate of the educational year on “The Clean Industrial Deal: Balancing Climate Goals and Social Justice”. The online event was organized by EZA and funded by the European Union. The speaker was Sophie Pornschlegel, Deputy Director at Europe Jacques Delors. The event gathered 22 representatives of workers’ organizations across Europe.
The most important aspect was the critical union-focused assessment of the European Commission’s new Clean Industrial Deal (CID), especially its social and employment dimensions. The debate centred on whether the CID provides adequate tools for a just industrial transition that safeguards jobs, rights, and regional cohesion.
The topic was important just now because the European Commission officially presented the Clean Industrial Deal on 26 February 2025. Some of its components (such as the Omnibus I and II packages) are already under discussion and many are yet to be published. This makes the current moment a critical window for trade unions to engage proactively, raise social concerns, and influence the direction of implementation before key decisions are locked in.
The following key areas were addressed:
Employment and deindustrialization trends in the EU
The structure and ambition of past and current EU industrial policies
The CID’s main components: funding, sectoral focus, trade tools
Skills and quality jobs in the CID
Social conditionalities tied to public subsidies
Fairness between Member States in terms of financing capacity
Competition from China and the US
Risks of deregulation in sustainability policy (Omnibus critique)
Seminar results
Key discussion results: The seminar provided a critical union-focused reading of the Clean Industrial Deal (CID), highlighting its ambition but also its gaps in social and strategic coherence.
On EU industry today: Sophie recalled that industry remains vital to EU value added, but its employment share is declining — a sign of deindustrialisation. The EU’s industrial base is diverse but fragmented, and less strategically coordinated than in China or the US.
On the CID’s purpose and structure: The CID responds to multiple crises — energy, competitiveness, climate — but lacks prioritisation. It avoids hard decisions about which sectors to support and leans on Member States for implementation, risking fragmentation.
On skills and quality jobs: While the CID acknowledges the labour dimension (skills, quality jobs, social leasing), most measures are non-binding. Sophie noted that without legal obligations or strong governance, a just transition remains aspirational.
On social conditionalities: Sophie expressed doubts about the strength of these conditions. The CID includes only vague references to job quality and workers’ rights, with no enforcement mechanisms.
On financing and cohesion: Concerns were raised about the unequal ability of Member States to support industry. Without stronger EU coordination or redistribution, richer countries may gain further advantage.
On green rollback: The “omnibus” simplification measures risk weakening environmental standards and undermining the Green Deal’s integrity.
Demands voiced during the seminar:
Make social conditionalities binding and enforceable for all EU public support related to industrial transformation.
Include workers and trade unions systematically in the design, implementation, and monitoring of CID-related measures at EU and national levels.
Ensure that the CID includes a clear prioritisation of sectors, based on economic, social, and environmental criteria — not just industrial lobbying.
Prevent an unequal subsidy race by reinforcing coordination and redistribution mechanisms, especially for smaller or less wealthy Member States.
Defend the integrity of the Green Deal by resisting deregulation under the banner of “simplification”.
Implications for daily work:
Participants stressed the need for trade unions and other workers’ organisations to engage proactively with upcoming CID-related proposals, including those on public procurement, skills, and state aid. Monitoring national implementation and ensuring that social fairness remains a pillar — not an afterthought — will be essential. There was broad agreement that cross-border cooperation among unions is needed to defend common standards and prevent a race to the bottom in labour and environmental protections.