Ensuring a Fair Development? The Role of Cohesion Policy and Just Transition Mechanism in the EU Green Initiative
Abstract
The dual imperatives of environmental sustainability and equitable development occupy a central position in the EU’s strategic vision, yet their concurrent pursuit engenders inherent tensions. The EU has noted that some regions and people are more vulnerable in the process of realizing green ambitions and that the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM) and Cohesion Policy (CP) are two of the most crucial concepts and tools for the EU to mitigate this friction in order to mediate between socio-economic equity and the realization of green ambitions. This article examines how the EU’s CP and JTM reconcile environmental climate goals with social fairness, especially the potential challenges and interactions in this process. Combining legal analysis of EU treaties and funding regulations with policy evaluations of subsidy implementation, it identifies a divergence in primary objectives between the CP’s regional balanced development goals and the JTM’s mandate to mitigate the social impact of urgent decarbonization. The study argues that achieving a fair green transition requires a wider interpretation of “Just Transition” under EU climate law. It proposes harmonizing the CP and JTM, and sets the functionalism as the core to determine the integrative relationship between the CP and JTM. Furthermore, enforceable and convenient procedural rights for affected populations is a feasible way to improve the supporting effect of related structural funds. By addressing normative gaps in participatory equity, this analysis advances institutional pathways to align environmental urgency with just development in supranational policymaking and implementation.
Keywords:
Just Transition Mechanism, Cohesion Policy, environmental climate goals, social fairnessReferences
Bache, Ian. “Cohesion Policy: A New Direction for New Times?.” In Helen Wallace, Policy-Making in the European Union, 7th ed., 243–262. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Directorate-General for Communication. “Modernising the Cohesion Policy to Meet Today’s Challenges,” April 1, 2025. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://commission.europa.eu/news/modernising-cohesion-policy-meet-todays-challenges-2025-04-01_en.
Eisenberg, Ann. “Just Transitions.” SSRN Scholarly Paper, Social Science Research Network, Rochester, 2018.
European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. “Cohesion Policy of EU,” February 14, 2025. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://circulareconomy.europa.eu/platform/en/financing/cohesion-policy.
European Commission. “Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions the European Green Deal,” December 12, 2019. Accessed April 6, 2025. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52019DC0640&qid=1741509685562.
European Commission. “The Just Transition Mechanism: Making Sure No One Is Left Behind.” Accessed February 10, 2025. https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/finance-and-greendeal/just-transition-mechanism_en.
European Commission. “Cohesion Policy Legislation 2021–2027.” Accessed May, 5 2025. https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/information-sources/legislationand-guidance/regulations_en.
European Commission. “EU Cohesion Policy: Commission adopts €76.5 billion Partnership Agreement with Poland for 2021–2027,” June 30, 2022. Accessed April 9, 2025. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_4223.
European Commission. “New Cohesion Policy.” Accessed May 5, 2025. https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/2021-2027_en.
Feld, Lars P., and Joshua Hassib. “On the Role of EU Cohesion Policy for Climate Policy.” Working Paper, ZEW Discussion Papers, 2024. (Crossref)
Fleming, Ruven, and Romain Mauger. “Green and Just? An Update on the ‘european Green Deal’.” Journal for European Environmental & Planning Law 18, no. 1–2 (2021): 164–80. (Crossref)
Forte-Campos, Victor, and Juan A. Rojas. “Historical Development of the European Structural and Investment Funds.” SSRN Scholarly Paper Social Science Research Network, Rochester, 2021.
Havlík, Vratislav. “The Power of Ideas: The Territorial Dimension of EU Cohesion Policy and Its Impact on EU Multi-Level Governance.” European Journal of Spatial Development, October 17, 2023.
IEA. “EU Cohesion Policy (2021–27) – Policies,” October 26, 2021. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://www.iea.org/policies/14328-eu-cohesion-policy-2021-27.
Jagódka, Maciej, and Małgorzata Snarska. “Should We Continue EU Cohesion Policy? The Dilemma of Uneven Development of Polish Regions.” Social Indicators Research 165, no. 3 (2023): 901–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-022-03048-8. (Crossref)
Jendrośka, Jerzy, Moritz Reese, and Lorenzo Squintani. ‘Towards a New Legal Framework for Sustainability under the European Green Deal.” The Opole Studies in Administration and Law 19, no. 2 (2021): 87–116. https://doi.org/10.25167/osap.4274.
Johansson, Vilja. “Just Transition as an Evolving Concept in International Climate Law.” Journal of Environmental Law 35, no. 2 (2023): 229–49. (Crossref)
JTC. “Just Transition: A Report for the OECD,” May 2017. Accessed March 2, 2025. https://www.oecd.org/environment/cc/g20climate/collapsecontents/Just-Transition-Centre-report-just-transition.pdf.
Karageorgou, Vasiliki (Vicky). “The EU Just Transition Concept and Its Application in the Case of the Just Transition Mechanism.” Journal for European Environmental & Planning Law 20, no. 3–4 (2023): 287–320. (Crossref)
Klabbers, Jan. “Treaties and Their Preambles.” In Conceptual and Contextual Perspectives on the Modern Law of Treaties, edited by Dino Kritsiotis and Michael J. Bowman, 172–200. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. (Crossref)
Kyriazi, Anna, and Joan Miró. “Towards a Socially Fair Green Transition in the EU? An Analysis of the Just Transition Fund Using the Multiple Streams Framework.” Comparative European Politics 21, no. 1 (2023): 112–32. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-022-00304-6. (Crossref)
Margaras, Vasilis, and Emmanuel Alvarez. “The Future of Cohesion Policy: Current State of the Debate.” European Parliamentary Research Service, 2025. Accessed April 29, 2025. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2025)767217.
Murzyn, Dorota. “Cohesion Policy and the EU’s Response to Climate Change Challenges.” Przegląd Europejski 2022, no. 4 (2023): 81–94. https://doi.org/10.31338/1641-2478pe.4.22.6. (Crossref)
Nekvasil, Michal, and Bedřich Moldan. “Could Cohesion Policy Push EU Climate Efforts?.” Climate Policy 18, no. 1 (2018): 129–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2016.1251878. (Crossref)
Pîrvu, Ramona, Cristian Drăgan, Gheorghe Axinte, Sorin Dinulescu, Mihaela Lupăncescu, and Andra Găină. “The Impact of the Implementation of Cohesion Policy on the Sustainable Development of EU Countries.” Sustainability 11, no. 15 (2019): 4173. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154173. (Crossref)
Rosemberg, Anabella. “Building a Just Transition: The Linkages between Climate Change and Employment.” International Journal of Labour Research 2, no. 2 (2010): 125–61. (Crossref)
Ślimko, Emilia, Magdalena Bartecka and Alina Pogoda. “Territorial Just Transition Plans for Polish Coal Regions.” Alliance of Associations Polish Green Network, CEE Bankwatch Network, 2021. Accessed May 14, 2025. https://bankwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2021-10-20_TJTP_Poland.pdf.
Stępień, Miłosława, Alina Pogoda, and Michiel Stapper. Following the Money: Poland – What Is the Just Transition Fund Going to Finance. CEE Bankwatch Network, 2024.
Thoidou, Elisavet. “The Climate Challenge and EU Cohesion Policy: Implications for Regional Policies.” International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development 7, no. 3 (2013): 303–20. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJISD.2013.056946. (Crossref)
Tijanić, Lela, and Ines Kersan-Škabić. “Tracking the Green Transition in the European Union within the Framework of EU Cohesion Policy: Current Results and Future Paths.” Economies 13, no. 2 (2025): 37. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies13020037. (Crossref)
