The 17.5 billion fund must enable fossil fuels reliant regions to move up a gear in the transition to a low-carbon economy. But what is at stake here is to succeed at taking on board, at the same time, social prizes. As pointed by Ludovic Voet, confederal secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) “it is extremely difficult to carry out an energy transition and to finance social measures at the same time”.

Reaching the ambitious climate target for 2030 without leaving anyone behind is an ambitious challenge. The European Union has huge responsibilities and must live up to it. Nonetheless, it implies not to take controversial decisions as it seems to be the case here since the Just Transition Fund will finance gas projects as well as green infrastructures and projects fighting energy poverty.