21.04.2021
The Just Transition Fund must not replace structural funds allocated to a region
Regional Assembly of Oulu Region: The Just Transition Fund must not replace structural funds allocated to a region
The Just Transition Fund (JTF) is a new EU fund that will be mobilised alongside the ERDF and the ESF. In line in cooperation with the Commission's proposal, the focus of JTF funding is on the Finnish Government's policy of halving the burning of peat by 2030. The sharp fall in demand for energy peat will lead to a rapid structural change in the industry. The Regional Assembly of Oulu Region considers it important that JTF funding is directed to actions that can affect the business and regional impacts caused by the change in the energy use of peat.
The JTF is much more limited in scope than the Structural Funds. In particular, ERDF funding is more useful and wide-ranging for the renewal of the regional economy and job creation. The JTF should not replace ERDF funding allocated to the region and thus weaken the region's wide-ranging development.
There is a significant need to support a just transition in Northern Ostrobothnia
The decrease in the use of peat for energy will result in an increase in demand for energy wood, which will have a direct impact on the actions needed in the forest sector. The use of domestic wood on peat farms must be increased by developing logging methods and companies' logging chains, as well as by investing in wood storage terminals and road networks.
regional authorities have an adequate range of means at their disposal
JTF funding should be able to finance small-scale infrastructure investments based on ALKE legislation and in line in cooperation with the regional plan, when they are related to the energy phase-out of peat and its replacement, such as terminal solutions related to energy supply. In addition, it must be possible to finance studies and investments related to biogas when they complement and support measures under other EU programmes.
