Climate change and environmental degradation pose an existential threat to Europe and the world. To meet this challenge, Europe needs a new growth strategy that transforms the Union into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy with no net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, where economic growth is not dependent on resource use and where no citizen or region is neglected.

The project Let's get green!” implemented by the Federation of Trade Unions of Metalworkers and Steelmakers FZZMiH from Poland, with the participation of the Employers' Association OKAP from Opole, enabled the development of employee participation in companies representing the metal sector throughout the EU and candidate countries by increasing the awareness and ability of employee representatives to exercise their rights to information, consultation and participation in the context of implementing the European Green Deal at the company level. Trade unions from Croatia, Serbia, Portugal, Spain and France also participated in it.

Since the beginning of the workers' movement, workers have been involved in participating in the management of power in companies and in progress to have an increasing influence on production processes.

Interest in trade union participation in economic and workplace management is a win-win opportunity that cannot be abandoned.

The achievement of trade union participation is an achievement for workers, provided it is clear that it is not the last, that the rights to information and consultation, to participation, must serve to participate in the strategic decisions of enterprises, to gain hegemony, to increase trade union legitimacy, and in this sense participation is nothing but a commitment that depends permanently on the correlation of forces.

The fight against climate change and environmental degradation is a common challenge, but not all regions and Member States start from the same starting point.  The Just Transition Facility will support regions that are highly dependent on carbon-related activities. It will help the most vulnerable citizens in transition by facilitating access to retraining programmes and employment opportunities in new sectors of the economy.

This project builds on these ideas to develop an initiative that will lead delegations from participating European countries to fully engage with these challenges facing the Union.

Project management included preparation, dissemination, implementation, monitoring and reporting activities. The European Commission has already presented the European Green Deal, a roadmap to make the EU economy sustainable by transforming climate and environmental challenges into opportunities in all policy areas and making this transformation fair and inclusive for all.