Green jobs are emerging, but not in Europe

The EU Green Deal promised new jobs in green industries to replace jobs lost in other sectors, but so far these jobs are being created outside Europe, Judith Kirton-Darling, general secretary of the EU’s largest industrial trade union, told Euractiv. She warned in particular about the situation in the automotive and steel industries.

The European Green Deal is a set of measures aimed at the EU’s green transition, with the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. According to the EU, this ambitious plan is expected not only to create new potential for economic growth, technological development and new business models, but also to create new jobs that will replace, or even outnumber, those disappearing in traditional industries. However, decarbonising industry presents many challenges, and the continent may be heading for a difficult economic period, according to IndustriAll Europe, the EU’s largest industrial trade union.

Although the Green Deal is expected to have an overall positive impact on employment through the creation of new industries, IndustriAll Europe does not see the outlook for new jobs in Europe so positively.

“We can see that these new jobs are not being created in Europe,” IndustriAll Europe general secretary Judith Kirton-Darling said in the interview.

While green industries such as wind turbine and electric vehicle manufacturing are growing globally, production in Europe is stagnating, and new jobs are therefore not being created there. She cites German automaker Volkswagen, which plans to close one of its plants in Germany and cut jobs. Kirton-Darling criticised both political and corporate failures, warning that without innovation and investment, Europe could face a difficult economic period.

Kirton-Darling considers the situation in the automotive industry particularly worrying, describing it as “the backbone of European manufacturing”, employing 13 million people directly and indirectly. She points out that a crisis in this sector also has a major impact on other industrial areas, such as chemicals, basic materials and metals. Europe has lost its lead in electric vehicles, she says, while China is gaining an advantage.

She suggests the EU consider introducing programmes such as the “social leasing” of electric vehicles, introduced by France last year, and combine this with measures to support the transformation of the automotive industry. Other steps should include retraining workers and building infrastructure for charging electric vehicles.

Concerns about the future of steelmaking in Europe

The head of IndustriAll expressed serious concerns about the future of steelmaking in Europe. According to internal estimates, decarbonisation projects announced by European steelmakers will cover only half of current production, putting tens of thousands of jobs at plants without emissions-reduction plans at risk. The steel industry will have to undergo a major transformation to meet the EU’s goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, while no new emissions allowances will be available under the ETS from 2039.

While plans to transition to green production are at an advanced stage in western and northern Europe, they remain theoretical in central and eastern Europe. This is illustrated by the recent case of Czechia and the situation surrounding the Liberty Ostrava steelworks, which produced more than three million tonnes of steel a year and supplied it to more than 40 countries worldwide. Liberty Ostrava, which employed around 6,000 people, filed for insolvency in June 2024 and offered itself for sale.

Kirton-Darling sees part of the solution in supporting green steel production, which significantly reduces CO₂ emissions and uses new manufacturing technologies, such as a new type of electric arc furnace. Green hydrogen should replace coal in production.

She also called on the EU to actively protect European steelmaking. She warned that countries such as China and India are aggressively expanding steel production and lowering prices, which could weaken Europe’s competitiveness.

Steel is a strategic industry both for defence and for the energy transition, so it is important to maintain Europe’s own production capacity.

Kirton-Darling also expressed hope in the “Clean Industrial Deal”, promised by returning European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen within 100 days of taking office. She plans to fund it through an “industrial decarbonisation accelerator”, which would channel investment into infrastructure and energy-intensive industry, and through the Competitiveness Fund, which would invest in a wider range of strategic technologies, including clean technologies.