THE EUROPEAN GREEN DEAL AND THE JUST TRANSITION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: AIMS AND SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE “FIT FOR 55” PACKAGE

The “ecological transition” has constituted a priority on the political agenda of the first European Commission under the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen, who has worked assiduously from the very first days of her mandate to steer the social market economies of EU member states towards the ambitious goal of decoupling economic growth from emissions that contribute to climate change. It’s widely known that no more than ten days after taking office, the EU executive unveiled the European “Green Deal”, a pioneering strategic plan which aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The Green Deal, which points the way to the realisation of what has been described as a true “revolution”, has identified a dense set of legislative proposals, financial instruments, programmes and action plans. This contribution will focus in particular on the “Fit for 55” package presented by the European Commission in July 2021 to implement the commitment set out in European climate legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 emissions. The approval of a large part of the program’s measures by the Union’s colegislators makes it one of the first concrete implementations of the Green Deal and provides an initial opportunity to assess the progress of the EU-led environmental transition process in relation to the greenhouse gas emission reduction target and to make some brief considerations on the measures which have been introduced to address the social consequences of such initiatives.