The updated EU Industrial Strategy highlighted the need to accelerate the green and digital transition of EU industry and its ecosystems. To that end, it proposed working with the relevant stakeholders to design and implement transition pathways for each ecosystem.
We invited companies and business associations, public authorities, social partners, research organisations, academia, consumers and other stakeholders to join us in the co-creation of a transition pathway for a more resilient, digital and green retail ecosystem. Through this holistic and inclusive process, we identified the challenges and opportunities of the transition and what specific actions and commitments will need to accompany this process.
In the autumn, the Commission held stakeholder workshops to deepen the understanding of the issues. Through this process of co-creation, a jointly agreed transition pathway was finalised in early 2024.
We are running a call for initiatives giving stakeholders the opportunity to help advance the green and digital transition of the retail ecosystem.
You can submit your initiative here
Please respond by 31 October 2024.
See the section on 'co-implementation of the retail transition pathway' further below for more context and details.
The sections below will guide you through the different steps of the co-creation process of the retail ecosystem transition pathway. We will regularly update the information.
To initiate the co-creation process, the Commission prepared a staff working document (PDF) sharing an analysis of how the retail ecosystem can accomplish a digital, green and skills transformation, increase its resilience and ensure that the transition takes place in a just and fair way.
This staff working document provided a basis for the targeted stakeholder consultation (see below).
To gather the inputs from retail ecosystem stakeholders, the European Commission launched a targeted online stakeholder consultation. Stakeholders were invited to provide answers to help co-create a vision towards a more resilient, digital and green retail ecosystem by 2030 and beyond. The consultation was performed through an EU Survey questionnaire, open until 26 September 2023.
Three stakeholder workshops were held in 2023 to deepen the understanding of the challenges and opportunities of the ecosystem transition. On 22 November, stakeholders discussed how to support the ecosystem in its green and digital transition, notably through adequate framework conditions as well as investment and funding opportunities and skills.
On 30 November, the discussions focused on the resilience and global competitiveness of the ecosystem, its preparedness for future crises and the role of a well-functioning single market for a successful transition. Finally, a #Revitalise Retail workshop on 15 December in Barcelona, organised with the Spanish Presidency, discussed the twin transition of retail SMEs and their role in urban and rural areas.
The retail ecosystem transition pathway was launched on 12 March at the high-level conference on retail. The policy report includes some 50 actions co-created with a broad community of retail ecosystem stakeholders to support the twin transition, the long-term resilience and the competitiveness of the retail ecosystem.
See the Transition pathway for a more resilient, digital and green ecosystem report.
On 23 July, the European Commission published a call for initiatives. Through this call, stakeholders have the opportunity to help advance the green and digital transition of the retail ecosystem and support its resilience by sharing their initiatives linked to the actions of the Retail Transition Pathway. The initiatives can take the form of pledges, commitments or best practices.
You can submit your initiative here.
The initiatives will be showcased as inspiration to other retail ecosystem actors on the website, and later on the Transition Pathway Stakeholder Support platform dedicated to the retail ecosystem. The aim is to support stakeholders in exchanging information, collaborating and creating partnerships with others. The contributions will also feed into a European Commission report on the advancement of the transition in the ecosystem.
For the first publication round planned for end of 2024, stakeholders are invited to submit their initiatives by 31 October 2024. This call will remain open on a rolling basis allowing stakeholders to submit their initiatives at any time. Further rounds of publications will be announced in due time. As of 2025, the survey will allow stakeholders to submit updates on their initiatives.
Read the related Frequently Asked Questions.