Ahead of the Special Council meeting of 1 October 2020, the ETUC strongly encourages EU leaders to propose an EU sustainable industrial strategy that delivers for the people and the planet.
What is the way out of the Covid-19 crisis?
There is no way back to business as usual: a ground-breaking plan to shape Europe’s future, its strategic independence, the competitiveness of the EU's industries and the acceleration of digitalisation should have the protection and wellbeing of workers and of the people at its core. This is the prerequisite to any sustainable and fair transition for Europe, in a model that values people above wealth.
The industrial strategy for Europe should factor in the impact of the Covid-19 crisis: the massive waves of restructuring causing an unprecedented rise in redundancies and sharp fall in investment should be stopped!
The ETUC is calling for an industrial strategy that should also:
- protect and create quality jobs, provide extra public investment for new technology introduced in a way that’s fair to workers and ensure any necessary restructuring is carried out with the full participation of workers.
- focus on investment in maintaining employment, in support schemes for a just transition in the sectors most affected, involving social partners in the anticipation of change affecting undertakings to shape socially acceptable restructuring processes, in anticipating skills needs in new technologies and relevant sectors to regain EU industrial sovereignty.
- deliver for the planet and its people and combine an ambitious 2030 target for emission reduction to at least 55% with a digital transition based on major investments in public infrastructure such as artificial intelligence, data, cloud services and 5G, that delivers for all, in full respect of data protection and privacy and guaranteeing cybersecurity
As expressed in the 2020 State of the Union speech: ‘’This is our opportunity to make change happen by design’, where the Union protects millions of jobs and creates many more.
Notes:
Full ETUC policy on the new industrial policy for Europe: https://www.etuc.org/en/document/etuc-position-new-industrial-strategy-europe