14 January 2022
On Tuesday 11 January, David Maria Sassoli, President of the European Parliament, passed away in Aviano. A great European humanist, David Maria Sassoli has served as President of the European Parliament since July 2019, having previously seated as member of the European Parliament since 2009.
A memorial ceremony will be held at the start of the plenary session of the European Parliament on Monday 17 January 2022, from 18:00, whilst the European Parliament also opened a book of condolences in his memory (in which you can leave a message here).
Prior to his career in politics, David Sassoli was an accomplished journalist. He began his career at the newspaper Il Tempo and Il Giorno in the 1980s, covering some fundamental historical events, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. In 1992, he became a reporter for television news program TG3, before heading different news programmes. After a few years, he was appointed anchorman of TG1, where he became one of the most notable and popular journalists in the country.
Aged 65, he is survived by his wife and his 2 children.
On 31 December, the European Commission circulated a first draft of the proposal for a Taxonomy complementary Delegated Act (CDA) to the EU taxonomy covering certain gas and nuclear activities. The document was circulated to the Member States Expert Group on Sustainable Finance and the Platform on Sustainable Finance, in which SGI Europe holds a permanent seat, inviting stakeholders to comment the draft.
SGI Europe generally welcomes the long-awaited draft and specifically finds it positive that the CDA helps to recognise the contribution of nuclear and gas to the energy transition. However, SGI Europe sees room for further improvements regarding both activities.
Firstly, the classification of nuclear energy as a transitional activity as described under Article 10.2 poses some difficulty and operational concerns and should therefore be revised. Given the low carbon footprint of nuclear power, the increase in energy demand (especially in electricity) and the increase of fluctuating renewable energies by 2040 onwards, nuclear will need investments to meet the energy demands.
Secondly, whilst SGI Europe welcomes those flexible options to meet the requirements in the CDA and defines a higher threshold value for gas if additional conditions are met, the criteria for classification as a sustainable economic activity as a whole are still extremely demanding and should be partly revised. The proposed alternative threshold value of 270g CO2e/kWh seems unfeasible as the challenging option of a budget value of 550kg CO2e/kW p.a. (extrapolated over 20 years), which is only granted for electricity generation plants. Neither of the criteria can be met even by even the most modern plants with transitional fossil gas operation. This holds especially if these plants have to be operated more flexibly at the expense of efficiency and if there is not yet sufficient hydrogen available after the conceded emission quantities have been used up, but the plants have to be operated to maintain security of supply.
SGI Europe submitted on 12 January its position to the Platform on Sustainable Finance (available here), and will continue to contribute to shaping the consolidated opinion of the Platform on the CDA ahead of the deadline on 21 January. The final proposal by the European Commission will then be expected by the end of January.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On 24 December 2021, SGI Europe submitted its contribution to the public consultation on the review of the EU economic governance, launched by the European Commission on 19 October 2021. You can find our response here.
In this paper, SGI Europe calls for achieving a meaningful and sound economic governance review. In that context, the new framework should be informed by the lessons learnt from the pandemic, in particular the fact that existing rules are not fit-for-purpose, and that fiscal policy has a crucial role in economic policymaking and growth-oriented policy choices. SGI Europe also pleads for adapting to the post-pandemic economic reality: current high debt levels and low interest rates should lead to a rethinking of how to reconcile the objectives of debt reduction and fiscal consolidation whilst fostering the investments needed for the twin transition. The objective should be to design a better functioning fiscal regulatory framework and simplify the rules, evolve from a one-size-fits-all to a more targeted approach, find a balance between investments and sustainability of public finances, and reform its governance in line with the best practices of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
SGI Europe believes that the EU now faces a window of opportunity for establishing a new ambitious pact to concretely invest in the future of Europeans and reinforce social cohesion. With adequate resources and a functioning economic governance framework, this new pact should prevent a great divergence process and lay the ground for a relaunch of the EU project on solid and long-lasting foundations.
Contact: Antonio Astolfi
In June 2021, the European Commission requested from all Member States to prepare national reports, including the views of the social partners at national level, on the transposition and practical implementation of the Working Time Directive, in line with the requirements of the Article 24(2) and 24(3) of the Directive.
In this context, SGI Europe contributed to the debate with a compilation of its members’ national contributions with regard to the implementation of the Working Time Directive. SGI Europe’s members have reported their constant work at all levels to negotiate applicable and well-designed solutions that ensure the health and safety of workers. Overall, SGI Europe considers as satisfactory the enforcement and monitoring of the WTD at the national level, whether via law or collective agreements.
SGI Europe nonetheless believes that, in order to adapt and face the transformations within the labour market, the Working Time Directive should be a stable and certain legal instrument, giving the needed flexibility to national law or collective bargaining to address the matters which are highly dependent of national circumstances and practice of the labour law.
For this reason, it remains crucial that any future action at the European level on working time also aims to leave room for solutions at national/sectoral level respecting the diverse industrial relations practices, increase possibilities for enterprises to use flexible working time arrangements to adapt working patterns and efficiently organise working time and recognise that the need for more flexibility comes from employers and workers, particularly in the context of the changing world of work.
You can consult our consolidated paper here.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On 17 December 2021, the European Commission launched the Rural Pact, including a call to join it and contribute to a common framework for engagement and cooperation and increase the coherence between policies on rural areas. All stakeholders and authorities are invited to join and can sign up with the dedicated on-line form.
The Rural Pact is a long-term process that will help to achieve goals set out in the European Commission communication long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas up to 2040. SGI Europe responded to the public consultation on Communication in November 2020, expressing the need for strengthening local services of general interest in the rural areas. This vision was duly reflected in the long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas published on 30 June 2021, which includes the importance of the services of general interest for rural areas to ensure their strength, connectivity, resilience, and prosperity.
In June 2022, the European Commission will also hold a high-level conference to endorse the Rural Pact and discuss and plan its future steps.
Contact: Manca Pocivavsek
With the objective of building a participatory bottom-up process in preparation of its International Festival of Health and Safety at Work (high-level event focusing on health and safety in the workplaces, from May 4 to 6 2022 in Urbino, Italy), the Rubes Triva Foundation – SGI Europe associated member – is organising a dedicated webinar on 3 February.
During the webinar, the first inputs received via the online platform “Let’s build prevention together” (www.salutesicurezzalavoro.it) will be presented and discussed, contributing to the build-up of a participatory exercise whose conclusion is expected at the International Festival of Health and Safety at Work. Four key questions will be at the heart of the process: Regular Job and health and safety protection, New risks and organisational change, Which training for health and safety at work?, and Which possible reforms?
Those interested, can submit their inputs via the online platform “Let’s build prevention together” on the website www.salutesicurezzalavoro.it, and contact Antonio Astolfi, SGI Europe Policy Officer for Interinstitutional Relations, to sign up for the webinar on February 3.
Contact: Antonio Astolfi
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