Europe's path to climate neutrality demands a fundamental reimagining of its industrial base. This talk examines how the twin transition — the simultaneous shift toward green and digital economies — is reshaping competitive dynamics across European industries, creating both structural pressures and growth opportunities. Drawing on the framework of the European Green Deal and the Clean Industrial Deal, the talk explores how EU policy is seeking to reconcile decarbonization ambitions with the urgent need to retain and attract industrial investment, particularly in energy-intensive sectors facing fierce global competition. Central to this transition is the human capital challenge: equipping the workforce with the green skills necessary to drive and sustain deep industrial transformation. The talk argues that competitiveness and decarbonization are not inherently at odds, but that realizing their complementarity requires coordinated action across innovation, finance, trade, and education policy at both European and national levels.
Jean Monnet Chair in EU Governance
JMC-BACES Seminar: Decarbonizing Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for Industrial Competitiveness
JMC-BACES Seminar: Decarbonizing Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for Industrial Competitiveness
LAST MINUTE CHANGE: This JMC-BACES Seminar will take place at 12:00 in room 24.009
Content
Target Audience
This seminar is open to students in related fields, such as Political Science, International Relations, and Global Studies, as well as to faculty members and researchers with an interest in the European Union and its environmental policies.
About the Speaker
Jale Tosun is professor of political science at Heidelberg University, Germany, and adjunct professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Oslo, Norway. She completed her doctorate at the University of Konstanz in 2009 and worked there as a researcher till 2012. In 2012 and 2013 she was a research fellow at the Mannheim Center for European Social Research. She then became an assistant professor at Heidelberg University in 2013 and was promoted to a full professor in 2015. She is the editor-in-chief of the Nature Portfolio Journal Climate Action as well as an associate editor of Policy Sciences. Her research concentrates on comparative public policy, international political economy, comparative public administration, and European integration.