14 March 2025
SGI Europe has responded to the European Commission’s public consultation reviewing the three public procurement directives. The consultation aims to review how the Concessions Directive, Public Procurement Directive and Utilities Directive have performed since they became applicable in 2016.
The SGI Europe consultation response consists of answers to the Commission's questions and a position paper that details SGIs' experience working with directives and makes recommendations for future public procurement legislation. Both are based on extensive membership consultation.
SGI Europe is uniquely positioned to analyse the effectiveness of the public procurement directives because the SGI Europe membership consists of both contracting authorities and bidders. Many local authorities within the membership are contracting authorities, while many companies delivering services of general interest bid for public contracts.
These different actors face very different challenges within the process of public procurement. As a result, they also judge the Directives in diverging ways. Therefore, the SGI Europe consultation response gives a balanced view of different perspectives on public procurement.
All SGI Europe members are united in their call for simpler public procurement legislation. This will allow more and smaller companies to bid for tenders while reducing the administrative burden on contracting authorities.
The effort to use public procurement strategically to drive high environmental, social and innovation standards must be balanced with this need for simplification. A one-size-fits-all approach to compulsory criteria at the EU level is not the right way to do so. Instead, public authorities and Member States should have the freedom to select bids based on price and/or the use of strategic criteria.
In addition, the Commission must keep in mind that public procurement alone is not enough to scale up the EU economy and create lead markets in green technologies. Private procurement must also play its part, for example, through the introduction of recycled content criteria for key product producers.
Contact: Ruben Sansom
On Monday 10 March 2025, SGI Europe took part in the Macro-Economic Dialogue at Political Level (MEDPOL), addressing key economic challenges and regulatory barriers affecting the EU's Single Market. The meeting gathered high-level figures, including Poland’s Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski, Commissioner for Economy and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis, ECB President Christine Lagarde, and Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe, alongside social partners.
Speaking on behalf of SGI Europe, Tor Hattlevoll, Chair of the Macro-Economics Task Force, underlined the urgent need to reduce regulatory fragmentation and ensure a more favourable environment for all enterprises operating within the Single Market. He emphasised that inconsistent implementation of EU rules hampers investment, delays infrastructure projects, and increases costs for SGIs, ultimately weakening Europe’s competitiveness.
SGI Europe stressed the crucial role of SGIs in fostering economic growth, enabling infrastructure development, and ensuring full territorial integration into the Single Market. It also called for EU policies that recognise SGIs as key drivers of resilience, regional development, and long-term competitiveness.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On Wednesday 12 March 2025, SGI Europe’s French section was present in Strasbourg in the context of the plenary session of the European Parliament to meet with several French Members of the European Parliament. The delegation comprised members of SGI Europe’s French section, such as EDF, Caisse des Depots et Consignations, SNCF, Fedepl and RTE, and SGI Europe's general secretariat.
It was the opportunity to meet a broad range of French MEPs dealing with issues of importance to SGI providers. State aid and public procurement were on the agenda of discussions with several of them, including the shadow rapporteur on the topic for the S&D group in the EP, MEP Pierre Jouvet (S&D). The delegation also met MEP Aurore Lalucq (S&D), chair of the ECON Committee, to discuss cross-cutting economic and financial issues such as the next Multiannual Financial Framework.
The delegation also met with MEP Marie-Pierre Vedrenne (Renew, EMPL) and MEP Fabienne Keller (Renew, quaestor of the Parliament), as well as the assistants of MEP Valérie Hayer, president of the Renew group. They also met with MEP François Kalfon (S&D, TRAN), MEP Thomas Pellerin Carlin (S&D, ITRE) and MEP Jean-Marc Germain (S&D, BUDG), as well as the team of MEP François-Xavier Bellamy (chair of the French EPP delegation in the Parliament).
During the meetings, the intergroup on the Social Economy and Services of General Interest, which was created in January 2025, was introduced.
Contact: Benoît Cassorla
On Wednesday 12 March 2025, SGI Europe representatives attended the 6th meeting of the Labour Migration Platform, engaging with stakeholders to discuss employers’ engagement in legal migration pathways, skills matching and the broader integration of third-country nationals (TCNs) into the EU labour market.
On this occasion, as lead organisation of the project LABOUR-INT 3, which aims to improve labour migration governance in the EU, SGI Europe emphasises the complementarity of the project with the work of the Labour Migration Platform and the need to enhance cooperation between the public and private stakeholders to support TCNs' labour market integration.
The LABOUR-INT 3 project and the Labour Migration Platform can cooperate to strengthen the EU’s overall approach to labour migration and integration. SGI Europe is committed to reinforcing the collaboration between the project and the Platform: the Platform is a vital forum for high-level discussions on legal pathways and migration schemes, while the LABOUR-INT 3 project contributes with concrete insights and practical initiatives that can help inform these discussions.
SGI Europe will continue connecting these efforts, ensuring that pragmatic solutions and bottom-up recommendations contribute to EU-level policymaking and implementation.
Contact: Cecilia Martin
On 6 March, the European Commission published its evaluations of two directives aimed at protecting EU seas and ensuring the quality of bathing waters. The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), established in 2008, and the Bathing Water Directive (BWD), adopted in 2006, were assessed to measure their effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.
The evaluation of the MSFD reveals that while it has created a strong framework to monitor the health of European seas, the directive has not fully met its target of achieving "Good Environmental Status" by 2020. Pollution, including nutrients and chemicals, continues to harm marine life, although improvements in areas like coastal litter have been observed. The evaluation suggests simplifying regulations and enhancing data management to address existing gaps.
In contrast, the BWD has been highly successful in protecting bathers, with 85% of EU bathing sites rated "excellent" in 2023. However, the evaluation notes the potential for further improving health and environmental protection, aligning more closely with the EU's Zero Pollution and Biodiversity ambitions. It also highlights the need for digitalisation to simplify monitoring and reporting.
Both evaluations reflect the EU's plans for better ocean and water quality management under the European Green Deal. These findings will inform future actions under the Water Resilience Strategy and the European Ocean Pact. The Commission will continue to engage Member States to enhance the effectiveness of both directives, ensuring cleaner seas and healthier bathing waters across Europe.
These evaluations were conducted in accordance with the EU’s Better Regulation Guidelines and form part of the broader efforts to achieve the goals set out in the Zero Pollution Action Plan and the EU Biodiversity Strategy.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
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