While most are hailing the European Green Deal is a visionary idea, the potential risks associated with transforming the European into a “green economy” are countless.
On our way to achieving noble goals, we might shake up the whole European social system and disrupt its fragile balance.
Indeed, some proposals, which include a €1 trillion in spending and ending coal, could introduce European economies and hence societies to a number of unpleasant changes.
A few days ago in Davos, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that the “green” transformation will be of gigantic proportions.
However, it is important to remember that the European Commission says that the so-called Transformation Fund, which is designed to help countries reach these gigantic goals, is just a drop in the ocean of finance needed for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Looking at the proposed measures, it seems that the Czech Republic would be one of the worst affected regions of the European Union.
In my view, the most important thing to consider is the fate of people who would lose their jobs as a result of such a significant restructuring of the economy. Many sectors would be affected, not only coal mining, but also the steel industry and a whole range of other manufacturing sectors.
A separate chapter is the fate of the automotive industry, which is already subjected to legislative challenges in a number of countries.
So far, the Czech Republic is betting on nuclear energy, which is currently on the brink of being rejected by other European powers as unsustainable. According to a study conducted by Stanford University, carbon neutrality without nuclear energy would cost the Czech Republic 2.5 trillion korunas (€99.6 billion).
The Czech Republic has to, therefore, define its next steps as soon as possible. It has to prepare for the impacts of the European Green Deal.
For some incomprehensible reasons, this has not yet occurred, as no one has seriously begun to deal with this matter. There are no studies advising what we can do to manage the economic changes in the future.
We must be well-prepared for such a fundamental transformation. If it turns out that it is not in our power to adapt to these changes in such a short period of time, we will have to follow the example of Poland and negotiate exceptions for the Czech Republic.
