19 April 2024
On Tuesday 16 April 2024, SGI Europe addressed the High-Level Conference on the European Pillar of Social Rights, organised by the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU and in the presence of, amongst others, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, and Alexander De Croo, Belgian Prime Minister.
SGI Europe signed the La Hulpe Declaration on the Future of Social Europe, reconfirming our commitment to the European Pillar of Social Rights as the social policy compass for the future. Putting SGIs on the front stage, the La Hulpe Declaration highlighted the specific role played by SGIs for a more competitive Europe.
On the occasion of this conference, Enrico Letta presented some key conclusions of his report on the Future of the Single Market, calling for, amongst others, to give SGIs the appropriate recognition and means to play a vital role in the Single Market. Prof. Mario Draghi, the rapporteur on the future of EU competitiveness, also presented – for the first time – the philosophy behind his upcoming report, highlighting the need for Europe to start providing EU Public Goods.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On 17-18 April 2024, EU heads of state gathered in Brussels for a special European Council meeting. This was the occasion for Enrico Letta, rapporteur on the Future of the EU Single Market, to introduce his report "Much More than a Market: Speed, Security, Solidarity – Empowering the Single Market to Deliver a Sustainable Future and Prosperity for All EU citizens".
SGI Europe welcomes the proposals put forward in the report, which reconcile the Single Market and the Cohesion Policy and better balance the economic, social and environmental dimensions. The report recognises that accessible, affordable, and high-quality SGIs across all EU regions will be crucial for addressing demographic challenges and key to the EU competitiveness. SGI Europe calls for following on the call for an Action Plan for High-Quality SGIs in Europe, which should help recognise their added value and give them the means to play their vital roles, even outside market failures or unprecedented crises.
Echoing Mr Letta's spirit of inclusiveness and consultations, SGI Europe organised a dedicated hearing in his presence on 7 December 2023, "Democracy in Action: Putting Citizens and SGIs at the Heart of the Single Market". This event allowed a direct exchange with SGI Europe members, partners from the SGIs Network, and citizens involved in the Conference on the Future of Europe. It helped shape SGI Europe's contribution to the Report.
Contact: Benoît Cassorla
On 16 April, Alain Taccoen, chair of the SGI Europe Sustainability Board, participated in an event co-organised by SGI Europe member BICA, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Water Europe, and Veolia. While the event focused on the need for an EU Blue Deal and smarter ways of using water resources, Mr Taccoen expressed the urgent need for actions to ensure safe and sufficient water access to all actors from industry, agriculture, and households across all critical infrastructure sectors.
In times of scarcity and as climate change increases risks, access to good quality and sufficient amounts of water becomes an evermore political question. Priorities must be set if there is competition for the use of public drinking water.
Such an EU water initiative should set monitoring tools and guiding principles for Member States whilst respecting the subsidiarity principles to implement coherently and accurately the existing EU water legislation as the cornerstone for sustainable water management.
SGI Europe calls for improved recognition of public water suppliers and authorities, services of general interest, and their role in sustaining public services for all. The "control at source" and the "polluter pays" principles should be streamlined across EU climate, energy, and environment policies.
Lastly, the involvement of social partners is critical to fostering a supportive and conducive environment for employers and their workers in preserving and managing water resources, essentially implementing the Water Framework Directive and, more broadly, the implementation of the EU Green Deal.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On 18 and 19 April, SGI Europe participated in the cluster seminar "Supporting the implementation of the Autonomous Framework Agreement on Digitalisation" in Vienna. Organised by the EU social partners - ETUC, SGI Europe, BusinessEurope, and SMEunited - and held at the Federation of Austrian Industries in Vienna premises, the seminar gathered social partners from Austria, Cyprus, Latvia, and Slovakia.
The event aimed at promoting and supporting the implementation of the European social partners Autonomous Framework Agreement on Digitalisation, as well as at presenting the latest developments of the Digital tool and its four main pillars: Digital Skills and Security Employment, Modalities of Connecting and Disconnecting, Artificial Intelligence and Guaranteeing the Human in Control Principle, and Respect of Human Dignity and Surveillance.
The European social partners provided the framework for the national social partners of member states and candidate countries to exchange examples of best practices and debate the outcomes of the European social dialogue, thereby influencing the policy debate in line with the priorities of employers, trade unions, and labour markets.
In this view, while presenting actions undertaken at the national level to implement the Agreement, social partners from different countries have successfully exchanged views on the Agreement and have discussed the priority action areas and the barriers faced. This fourth and last cluster seminar will be followed by the project final conference, which will take place in Brussels on 23 May, during which the Digital Tool will be presented, and several best practices will be presented.
Contact: Cecilia Martin
On Tuesday 16 April, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and BDA, the confederation of German employers' associations, organised an event on 'European Competitiveness at a Crossroad'. As the need to boost the EU's competitiveness is one of the critical issues of the EU electoral campaign, the event brought together various stakeholders from Brussels and beyond, including SGI Europe.
The panel discussion featured MEP Christian Ehler (EPP, DE), Michael Wimmer (European Commission), Arne Franke (Confederation of German Employers' Associations, BDA), and Michael Hüther (German Economic Institute, IW). Ehler, Franke, and Hüther voiced concerns about the amount of regulation enterprises in the EU need to work with. Mr Franke stressed that, in particular, the number of reporting obligations has become too large.
As the Director of 'Strategy, Better Regulation & Corporate Governance' in the Secretariat-General of the European Commission, Mr Wimmer indicated that when creating new regulation, the Commission focuses more on its impact on smaller enterprises. Launched last year, the Competitiveness Test – currently being further developed in the context of the Fit4Future Platform – should help address this issue.
Through SGI Europe's seat in the Fit4Future Platform, General Secretary Valeria Ronzitti is co-rapporteur on the opinion 'Avoiding the build-up of unnecessary reporting obligations, actively shaping the development of the number of reporting obligations for all companies and support the EU's competitiveness.
Contact: Ruben Sansom
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