The EU’s proposed long-term budget includes major investment priorities that aim to support competitiveness, innovation and industrial transformation. Often this comes without clear guarantees for workers, communities or society at large. A coalition of civil society organisations is calling for binding social conditions to ensure that public funding delivers real public value.
In the joint letter below, a coalition of civil society groups calls on the European Parliament and EU Member States to strengthen social conditions attached to public funding for companies under the next EU budget. As the EU prepares for investments in competitiveness and industrial transformation, signatories warn that public money risks supporting low-quality jobs, weak labour standards and unfair business practices if clear conditions are not in place.
The letter argues that companies receiving public support should be required to contribute to a socially just transition. This includes creating quality and secure jobs, respecting workers’ rights and collective agreements, investing in skills and training, and demonstrating responsible tax behaviour. The coalition calls for these social conditionalities to be embedded across EU funding instruments, including the proposed Competitiveness Fund, and backed by monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.
