A fund left behind? How the just transition replaced the globalisation adjustment agenda

Details

Supervisors

Fontan, Clément

Faculty

Faculté des sciences économiques, sociales, politiques et de communication

Degree label

Master [120] en études européennes, à finalité spécialisée: gouvernance et sociétés européennes

Abstract

enThe European Union's Just Transition Fund (JTF) was established as a new tool rather than by expanding the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), and this thesis shows the institutional and political factors that led to its creation. The study explores how the JTF developed as a strategic response to the EGF's increasing misalignment with the EU's changing climate and industrial objectives, drawing on theories of gradual institutional change, specifically policy drift and layering, and the Multiple Streams Framework, as applied by Kyriazi and Miró (2022). The JTF was intended as a more proactive, place-based mechanism integrated into the European Green Deal, whereas the EGF suffered from strict procedures, underutilisation, and a reactive logic. Through a thorough process-tracing of both funds' legislative trajectories, the thesis demonstrates how Member State preferences, institutional inertia, and political dynamics influenced the JTF's governance architecture. In the end, the study makes the case that the JTF is a manifestation of both policy innovation and politically pragmatic layering, taking into account the EU's multi-level governance constraints while also reflecting lessons learned from previous failures.