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1. Member States shall prepare, together with the relevant local and regional authorities of the territories concerned, one or more territorial just transition plans covering one or more affected territories corresponding to NUTS level 3 regions or parts thereof, in accordance with the template set out in Annex II. Those territories shall be those most negatively affected, based on the economic and social impacts resulting from the transition, in particular with regard to the expected adaptation of workers or job losses in fossil fuel production and use and the transformation needs of the production processes of industrial facilities with the highest greenhouse gas intensity.

2. A territorial just transition plan shall contain the following elements:

(a) a description of the transition process at national level towards a climate-neutral economy, including a timeline of the key transition steps towards the Union’s 2030 targets for energy and climate and a climate-neutral economy of the Union by 2050 which are consistent with the latest version of the integrated national energy and climate plan;

(b) a justification for identifying the territories as most negatively affected by the transition process referred to in point (a) of this paragraph and to be supported by the JTF, in accordance with paragraph 1;

(c) an assessment of the transition challenges faced by the identified most negatively affected territories, including the social, economic, and environmental impact of the transition to a climate-neutral economy of the Union by 2050, identifying the potential number of affected jobs and job losses, the depopulation risks, and the development needs and objectives, to be reached by 2030 and linked to the transformation or closure of greenhouse gas-intensive activities in those territories;

(d) a description of the expected contribution of the JTF support to addressing the social, demographic, economic, health and environmental impacts of the transition to a climate-neutral economy of the Union by 2050, including the expected contribution in terms of job creation and preservation;

(e) an assessment of its consistency with other relevant national, regional or territorial strategies and plans;

(f) a description of the governance mechanisms consisting of the partnership arrangements, the monitoring and evaluation measures planned and the responsible bodies;

(g) a description of the type of operations envisaged and their expected contribution to alleviating the impact of the transition;

(h) where support is to be provided to productive investments in enterprises other than SMEs, an indicative list of operations and enterprises to be supported and a justification of the necessity of such support through a gap analysis demonstrating that the expected job losses would exceed the expected number of jobs created in the absence of the investment;

(i) where support is to be provided to investments to achieve the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from activities listed in Annex I to Directive 2003/87/EC, a list of operations to be supported and a justification that they contribute to a transition to a climate-neutral economy and lead to a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions going substantially below the relevant benchmarks established for free allocation under Directive 2003/87/EC and provided that these operations are necessary for the protection of a significant number of jobs;

(j) synergies and complementarities with other relevant Union programmes to address identified development needs; and (k) synergies and complementarities with planned support from the other pillars of the Just Transition Mechanism.

3. The preparation and implementation of territorial just transition plans shall involve the relevant partners in accordance with Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 and, where relevant, the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund.

4. Territorial just transition plans shall be consistent with the relevant territorial strategies referred to in Article 29 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 and relevant smart specialisation strategies, the integrated national energy and climate plans and the European Pillar of Social Rights. Where the update of an integrated national energy and climate plan pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 necessitates a revision of a territorial just transition plan, that revision shall be carried out as part of the mid-term review in accordance with Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060.

5. Where Member States intend to make use of the possibility to receive support under the other pillars of the Just Transition Mechanism, their territorial just transition plans shall set out the sectors and thematic areas envisaged to be supported under those pillars.