A new EU-level report examines how the green transition is reshaping Europe’s automotive industry and why current pathways risk deepening inequalities across countries, regions, and workers.
The report, authored by ETUI researcher Béla Galgóczi, shows that decarbonisation is unfolding alongside digitalisation, automation, and value-chain restructuring, intensifying competition between production locations and increasing pressures on jobs.
While Germany stands out with more advanced just transition instruments, most countries, including those in Central and Eastern Europe, lack effective policies to manage restructuring in a socially fair way.
Key findings highlight that:
• Access to green mobility is increasingly unequal, with electric vehicles and subsidies concentrated in wealthier countries and households.
• Electrification alone does not guarantee good jobs – new green jobs, especially in battery manufacturing, often come with lower job quality and weaker worker protection.
• Social dialogue and collective bargaining remain underused, despite being crucial tools for anticipating change and protecting workers during industrial transformation.
The report argues that a just transition in the automotive sector requires stronger EU-level action: dedicated funding, binding social and labour conditionalities, and a legal framework that places collective bargaining at the centre of managing change.
Read the full EU-level report authored by Béla Galgóczi (European Trade Union Institute – ETUI):
Automotive trends policies-overview – EU level (PDF)
EcoMobility Transition project is a joint initiative from the European Trade Union Institute – ETUI, the Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI), NELA. Next Economy Lab, and Instytut Spraw Publicznych, part of EUKI – European Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN).
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