24 November 2023
On 20 November 2023, SGI Europe organised, with the support of the Employers Group in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), an event dedicated to “The EU Green Deal as a Growth Strategy: Contributions and expectations from SGIs at the heart of the transition”. The event was hosted at the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels.
The event gathered providers of SGIs, public services, education providers and EU institutions to identify answers to better balance the social and economic challenges linked with the clean reindustrialisation of the EU industry. With 40% of employers struggling to find workers with the necessary skills, continuous work-based learning, as well as up- and re-skilling are now imperative to deliver economic growth and succeed in the green transition. SGIs and VET providers will play a crucial role in shaping and implementing policies to mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure socioeconomic stability.
You can read more about the key messages and takeaways on our website.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On Friday 17 November, Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, and Esther Lynch, ETUC General Secretary, met with Maroš Šefčovič, European Commission Executive Vice-President in charge of the EU Green Deal. The meeting addressed the ongoing implementation of the EU Green Deal, and how to ensure the fairness of the green transition.
On this occasion, Valeria Ronzitti recalled the important role that social partners can play in guaranteeing a fair green transition. She called for the European Commission to go further than the recently launched Clean Transition Dialogues with the industry, and for setting up more transversal platforms – including EU institutions, social partners and other key stakeholders – to go beyond the current sectoral approach.
During the meeting, the up- and re-skilling of the workforce was also addressed, as well as the creation of “Skills Academies” and the role to be played by the Social Climate Fund – which will start delivering from 2026 – to support the transition across the EU. As social partner representing enterprises at the heart of the green transition, SGI Europe will continue to play in central role in ensuring a fair implementation of the EU Green Deal. Anticipating the future skills needed for the climate transition will be key, and the transformation of the labour market will require the early and effective involvement of social partners.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On 23 and 24 November 2023, the European Commission, together with the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, organised the meeting of the European Integration Network (EIN) in Madrid. On this occasion, SGI Europe was present and exchanged views with representatives of national public authorities, mainly from the ministries responsible for migrant integration.
More specifically, on the opening day, the meeting focused on the different challenges related to labour market integration, drawing from the priorities of the Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021-2027) and taking into account the European Year of Skills. The first panel addressed the issue of “Securing equal work opportunities for migrants: How can multistakeholder approaches help?” Representing the EU social and economic partners signatories of the European Partnership for Integration (SGI Europe, ETUC, BusinessEurope, SMEunited and Eurochambres), SGI Europe highlighted the importance of the multistakeholder approach in supporting the integration of migrants. With this approach, it is possible to promote access to quality jobs, skills validation and recognition of qualifications, and access to language training and integration services (childcare, healthcare, and housing).
SGI Europe took this opportunity to introduce the work of the EU social and economic partners are conducting at the EU level through their joint projects, such as Labour Int I and II, as well as the submitted proposal for a Labour Int III project, expected to start in 2024. It was also the occasion to share the multistakeholder work of the affiliates at national, regional and local level, and their partnership with local and central administrations, NGOs and education providers.
Contact: Benoît Cassorla
On Tuesday 21 November 2023, the Commission launched the 2024 European Semester cycle of economic policy coordination. The Commission states that the EU is facing a number of important structural challenges, including low productivity growth, the green and digital transitions, ageing and social inclusion, that need to be tackled in order to stay on the path of sustainable competitiveness.
This year's Annual Sustainable Growth Survey puts forward key priorities including removing bottlenecks to private and public investment, supporting a conducive business environment, and ensuring the development of the skills required for the green and digital transitions. In this respect, the 2024 cycle of the European Semester will specifically focus on synergies and complementarities between the implementation of the recovery and resilience plans and the Cohesion Policy programmes, and on identifying areas with further investment and reform needs at the national and regional level.
The euro area recommendation also presents tailored policy advice to euro area Member States on topics that affect the functioning of the euro area as a whole. The Commission recommends for next year that Member States to adopt coordinated prudent fiscal policies and wind down energy support measures, with a view to enhancing public finances' sustainability and avoiding fuelling inflationary pressures, to ensure high and sustained levels of public investment and promote private investment through the acceleration of the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and Cohesion Policy programmes and to support wage developments that mitigate the loss in workers' purchasing power, taking into account competitiveness dynamics. The Commission will now invite the Eurogroup and the Council to discuss the 2024 Autumn Package and to endorse the guidance of the new European semester.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On 20 November 2023, the European Commission has adopted an amendment to the “State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework” to prolong by six months a limited number of sections of the framework aimed at providing a crisis response following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the unprecedented increase in energy prices. Although the aggression against Ukraine by Russia has not ended, the economic situation in the Union has shown resilience in the face of the energy prices. However, the Commission has noted that the EU economy has lost momentum and barely grew in the first three quarters of 2023.
Building upon the feedbacks received from Member States, and in view of addressing the remaining vulnerability of energy markets, the Commission has decided to delay the phase-out of sections 2.1 (Limited amounts of aid) and 2.4 (Aid to compensate for high energy prices) of the TCTF until 30 June 2024 to guarantee the required safeguard and time to administratively implement the necessary measures. With this adjustment of the phase-out schedule of the TCTF, Member States can maintain their support schemes to cover the upcoming winter heating period. Whereas, sections 2.2, 2.3 (liquidity support in the form of State guarantees and subsidised loans) and 2.7 (measures aimed at supporting electricity demand reduction) of the TCTF will expire on 31 December 2023. The sections of the Framework covering the transition towards a net-zero economy (2.5, 2.6 and 2.8) will remain available until 31 December 2025.
Contact: Maxime Staelens
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