Dissemination conference and reports of the project Involving SGIs in the European Semester

SGI Europe organized on 8 December the final conference of the project ‘Involving SGIs in the European Semester’, co-funded by the European Commission. On this occasion, the final report of the project was published, and is available. A political report is available also available in English, French, German, Polish, and Bulgarian. This study was carried out by researcher Inga Pavlovaite as a subcontractor.

The conference was kick-started by a keynote address of Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission Executive Vice-President, and an introduction by Pascal Bolo, SGI Europe President, as well as the presentation of the project's methodology. Two roundtable discussions then gave the opportunity to SGI Europe members involved in the project to present the state of play of the national dimensions of the EU Semester, with Tor Hatlevoll (SALAR, Sweden), Stefan Chaykov (BICA, Bulgaria), Sébastien Darrigrand (UDES, France), Joseph Farrugia (MEA, Malta) and Kamil Sobolewski (Employers of Poland, Poland) presenting their respective realities.

The project identified several challenges for the effective involvement in the European Semester of SGI Europe members, including improving the knowledge of the Semester process and its mechanisms, as well as explaining the expectations about the contributions SGI Europe members expected in this context. The project also identified a series of best practices through which SGI Europe members are involved in different stages of consultations, and could be replicated.

The methodology developed within the project provides an overview of the Semester and key advices and tips for SGI Europe members on how to engage in the process, and provides a thematic analysis in the Semester process based on SGI Europe’s policy priorities.

The report offers key recommendations for SGI providers, focusing on organising training and awareness raising activities, engaging with the main stakeholders coordinating the Semester process in each Member State, and using the Semester process more actively to ensure their views are heard by the national government in the adoption of key reforms.

The partners of this project were the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR, SE), Union des employeurs de l'économie sociale et solidaire (UDES, FR), Association of Social Profit Enterprises (UNISOC, BE), the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA, BG), Employers of Poland (PL), and the Austrian Association for Public and Social Economy (VÖWG, AT).