Title SOTA Analysis of Triple Transition and Creativity Potentials in the EU Manufacturing Sector

European manufacturing faces a structural inflection point as digitalisation, decarbonisation, and social transformation advance simultaneously. Yet whether workforce competences and training systems can keep pace with this convergence remains poorly understood: existing analyses tend to address each transition in isolation, leaving their combined competence demands unexamined. Drawing on a structured desk-based review of EU policy documents, Eurostat data, European agency reports, and academic literature, this paper maps the triple transition across three functional manufacturing sub-groups and diagnoses gaps in current training provision. Four dimensions of competence deficit are identified: limited AI and data literacy beyond basic tool operation; weak integration of sustainability into technical education; marginalisation of participatory and social competences; and historical separation between creative and technical training. The paper introduces a benchmarking framework that translates these deficits into actionable criteria for curriculum design and programme evaluation. It concludes with policy implications directed at EU institutions, Member States, and training providers, arguing that competence development must be recognised as a strategic industrial policy lever — not a secondary skills concern — if European manufacturing is to achieve its triple transition objectives. Central to this argument is the role of creativity as a situated problem-solving capacity that helps actors navigate the interdependencies of the triple transition, and one that AI can either augment or displace depending on the governance and workforce conditions of its deployment.