12 February 2021
SGI Europe published its policy kit for the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU, which started on 1 January 2021 (until 30 June 2021). The report highlighting our key messages on the 5 main priorities identified for the semester ahead: Resilient Europe - Promote Europe's recovery, cohesion and values; Green Europe - Promoting the EU as a leader in climate action; Digital Europe - Accelerate digital transformation in the service of citizens and enterprises; Social Europe - Promote and strengthen the European social model; Global Europe - Promote Europe’s openness to the world. You can read more about it here.
On Tuesday 9 February, SGI Europe submitted its responses to the European Commission’s public consultation on the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive II (REDII) and of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED).
SGI Europe expresses its support of the revisions in line with the objectives of the EU Green Deal and the new climate target to reduce 55% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. However, SGI Europe also underlines that these ambitions should go hand in hand with existing legal files to ensure coherence and a level-playing field for all technologies.
SGI Europe has set out in its position papers on REDII and EED a series of recommendations on how to improve the directives. These directives should ensure a just transition respecting the social, environmental, and economic dimensions, and put forward the right measures and tools for each sector (such as energy, transport, building, water and waste management). We believe that this is the only way for the EU Green Deal to be a success and lead to a carbon-neutral Europe by 2050.
We also encourage the Commission to ensure legal certainty, which is questioned by the recent adoption of the Clean Energy Package. Several Member States have still not fully implemented the EU acquis into national law yet. For a successful EU Green Deal and in decarbonising the EU economy, the European Commission must ensure clarity and consistency in its climate-neutrality 2050 path.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On Wednesday 10 February 2021, the European Parliament approved the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), designed to help EU countries deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The RRF is the largest building block of the €750 billion Next Generation EU recovery package and represent a substantial and ambitious development at European level. Indeed, €672.5 billion in grants and loans will be raised by the Commission on capital markets and mobilised to provide financing for national measures to alleviate the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. At present, all but three Member States have started preliminary talks with the Commission on the content of their recovery plans. EU countries will have until 30 April to finalise them.
In this context, SGI Europe believes that the promotion of strategically designed investment in public services and services of general interest is key to guarantee the recovery, promote upward convergence and, consequently, foster a stronger and more resilient social market economy. SGI Europe members are currently active at national level to propose their projects, in line with the priorities of Next Generation EU, to their respective governments.
Once the Council has also formally approved the RRF regulation, it will enter into force one day after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU. This Friday 12 February, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed that the Commission should be able to disburse the first recovery fund pay-outs by mid-2021. The precondition to meet this deadline is the obligation for all EU Member States to ratify the “Own Resources Decision” as fast as possible, preferably “by the end of the first quarter”, added António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal (who currently holds the presidency of the Council of the EU).
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
In the framework of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, the DG Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission (DG HOME) and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development organized on Thursday 11 February 2021 the online workshop ‘’From Pilot Projects to Talent Partnerships - The Way Forward’’, with the participation of SGI Europe.
The inclusive, multi-stakeholder character of the pilot projects is of particular relevance to the framework for EU Talent Partnerships to be developed under the New Pact. The Pilot Projects have fostered cooperation between relevant institutions and stakeholders, including Ministries of Labour and Education, employers and social partners, as well as education and training providers, and continue to shape the way EU Member States address labour migration with partner countries.
Ahead of the high-level political conference with EU Member States and key EU stakeholders announced in the Communication on the Pact on Migration and Asylum, the workshop tried to gather policy and project practitioners and other key stakeholders to discuss concrete and practical challenges and opportunities to be addressed as the European Commission prepares to launch the EU Talent Partnerships.
Contact: Ștefan Enică
On Thursday 18 February, SGI Europe’s Sustainability Board will meet for the first time in 2021. The meeting will run from 9:30 to 14:00 and will be chaired by Jean-Eudes Moncomble. The meeting is open to all members of SGI Europe.
Divided into 2 sessions, this meeting will address the following issue: "One year after the EU Green Deal: What will the future hold for Public Services and SGIs?"
The first session will focus on the “EU Green Deal - From Vision to Action”, discussing and reflecting the Green Deal one year after its adoption and addressing what has happened, what it means for SGIs and where we are heading. The second session will be on the financing of the climate transition, with a focus on the work of the Sustainable Finance Platform (where SGI Europe is represented by Vice-President Filippo Brandolini).
Finally, speakers from the European Commission’s DG for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets will join the conversation, and discuss with members the future of EU Green Bonds.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
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