40 Romanian NGOs champion Social Pact meant to accompany the European Green Deal

Over 40 civil society organizations in Romania, with expertise in climate, energy, agriculture, and biodiversity, advanced the idea of a Social Pact meant to accompany the European Green Deal. They also proposed the establishment of two new European Commissioner positions.

The NGOs asserted their ideas in a new position paper developed following a roundtable held on May 29, 2024, co-organized by the Center for the Study of Democracy, the Romanian Center for European Policies, Bankwatch Romania, and the Coalition Natura 2000 Federation, under the aegis of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and titled "The Future of the European Green Deal: Balancing Ecological and Social Equity."

"There will be no Green Deal without a Social Pact. The Just Transition Fund does not address the structural issue of equity in the transition process. As such, the EESC advocates for the necessity of a European directive on just transition and a dedicated European Commissioner for the subject," the document states.

The position paper lists among its objectives "institutionalizing just transition as a strategic objective of the next Commission by appointing a Commissioner for Just Transition, continuing the European Just Transition Fund, and integrating just transition objectives into all relevant areas, such as the European Semester or the European Pillar of Social Rights."

Other proposed objectives include implementing effective frameworks for dialogue with citizens to create public consensus on the transition and increasing public acceptance of it as a basis for implementing the European Green Deal. Measures suggested include the horizontal integration of the Partnership Principle in all European funding instruments. The NGOs also recommend conducting environmental and social impact studies to identify the differentiated impact on various social groups and the risks of exacerbating social inequality from the Green Deal measures.

The document also states that globally, food systems account for one-third of greenhouse gases, and European agriculture is the only major agri-food system in the world that has managed to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 20% since 1990, with European farmers making significant progress in reducing pesticide use and improving water quality.

"The current framework of international trade agreements profoundly undermines the competitiveness of European agri-food producers, as the environmental standards imposed on them are not respected by agricultural and food producers from third countries. It is necessary to adapt the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to the agri-food sector to combat the influx of cheap, carbon-intensive, and unregulated food products from Third Countries," the document further mentions.