Where is the money the EU promised workers to go green?

The European Union's flagship Just Transition Fund has spent less than 3% of its €26.7 billion ($30.5 billion US) to support regions and communities' shift away from fossil fuel industries, despite running for more than four years.

European Commission data analysed exclusively by Context revealed that only €735 million ($840 million US) of the bloc's fund had been spent by EU member states from 2021 through March 2025, the latest figures available.

"The Just Transition Fund has failed abysmally to help workers who have lost their jobs," said Ciaran Mullooly, an Irish Member of the European Parliament who has been investigating the fund’s performance as a rapporteur.

"From an employment perspective it's completely devastating. Towns are being left with nothing. It's almost like they have given up on a generation," he said.

Launched as part of the European Green Deal to make sure "no one and no region is left behind" in the transition to net zero, the fund was intended in part to retrain workers in areas like coal mines, steel factories and peat fields.

Running until 2027, after which no new projects will be considered, the fund has been championed by Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen. Last year she pledged to "significantly increase" financing in future iterations.

Critics, however, have raised concerns that the delayed spending could hinder workers' transition to clean energy, risking rushed misspending ahead of the 2027 deadline and a backlash against green policies.

Europe's planned 2030 emissions reductions, some of the most ambitious in the world, could lead to an overall loss of 494,000 jobs, with the coal sector set to halve in the next five years, according to an impact assessment by the EU.

Yet depending upon policies such as cutting taxation and investment, it could also lead to a net gain of 110,000 jobs in growing sectors like electricity supply, the assessment found.

Mullooly said spending has been slow in part because the application process is bureaucratic and onerous, with community groups required to have financing upfront such as loans.

The Just Transition Fund is targeting regions where traditional polluting industries such as coal, peat, oil shale, cement, paper and fertiliser production are major job providers.

Poland, Germany and Romania are set to be the leading beneficiaries with €4.7 billion ($5.4 billion US), €3.7 billion ($4.2 billion US) and €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion US) respectively.

The grants can be used to train workers, assist in job searching, invest in small- and medium-sized businesses, support research and launch clean energy projects.

The fund has been used to launch Greece's first women-led energy cooperative, which has an output of 3 megawatts of wind and solar energy, and a gaming and technology hub in a former coal mine area in Poland.

However, five EU member states – Spain, Italy, Belgium, Slovenia and Cyprus – have spent no money to date, despite having more than €3 billion ($3.4 billion US) available among them, according to EC data.

The figures also showed 43% of the funds have been "decided" by EU member states, meaning they have been allocated but not necessarily spent.

Mullooly called for changes including the creation of special economic zones within 50 kilometres (31 miles) of job loss sites with priority access to funding, upfront funds for community groups and higher education and training for workers who lose their jobs.

A spokesperson for the Commission said the low spending rate was misleading because significantly more funds are in the process of being allocated for projects even if not yet spent.

The pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine slowed the initial roll-out, but states have an additional two years to spend resources after 2027, and they are "optimistic and confident" that everything will be spent on time, the spokesperson said.

‘No one has the skills'

Union leaders and NGOs are more sceptical.

A representative for one major European labour union said workers’ input was not being sufficiently considered in the spending plans.

Workers were also not receiving training, risking a skills gap and mass unemployment, said the representative who asked for anonymity.

"They aren't being consulted – and no one has the skills for transition," they said.

The Commission should require minimum spending to support marginalised groups, provide better technical support and require more credible plans for emissions reductions, said Alberto Vela, a spokesperson on climate and energy at the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), a network of non-profits.

"The Just Transition Fund can be a powerful catalyst for both decarbonisation and socio-economic changes in regions relying heavily on fossil fuels, but we risk not taking advantage of this opportunity," he said.

With only two years remaining, hasty, last-minute spending could upset the just transition, said Damijan Fišer, a spokesperson at the European Court of Auditors, an independent body that audits EU finances.

"When there's a pressure to rush spending, there's a higher risk that mistakes will appear," said Fišer.

This reporting was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe and the Arena Climate Network.

(Reporting by Peter Yeung; Editing by Jack Graham and Ellen Wulfhorst.)