On 16 November 2020, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) organised an online hearing in connection with its exploratory opinion requested by the European Parliament on Industrial transition towards a green and digital European economy. During the hearing, the preliminary findings raised from the first two sub-questions of the Screen Policy Lab were presented. Hearing highlights are now published in the EESC hearing website.
EESC, at its 556th plenary session, held on 2 December 2020, adopted the opinion related to the hearing. The opinion was requested by the European Parliament and is now available in all language
versions on the EESC web site:
The industrial transition towards a green and digital European economy: regulatory requirements and the role of social partners and civil society
Since EESC is the consultation body of the European Parliament, we would like to point out three aspects in the following paragraphs of the opinion:
5.2 Close cooperation between the key local/regional stakeholders is essential to identify the most sustainable applications and maximise socio-economic development
8.1 The role of the regions in the transition process should be strengthened in the European agenda. The involvement of regional administrations could contribute to the creation of the necessary eco-systems for a successful transition. Long-term planning, a strong place-based
approach, smart specialisation, and a human capital agenda have been mentioned as the prerequisites for this process.
8.2 To ensure appropriate funding, European instruments planned to support these regions (e.g., the European Just Transition Fund) should not be replacing national efforts.
The Members of the European Parliament are now reading this opinion; our final publication will be
issued in January 2021 and sent to them;
our third sub-question, that we will debate on 17/12/2020 is:
What would you like to add as a punctual recommendation to the EU Institution to implement the suggestions in the above-underlined sentences?
Please note that the Policy Lab will issue on January 2021 a publication resuming all the issues and
suggestions raised during our meetings: such a publication will be disseminated towards the European institution and particularly to the Members of the European Parliament that at the date will be still discussion the EESC opinion.
This is a good opportunity to promote the point of view of your region.
