19 December 2025
On 11 December, SGI Europe participated in the European Commission’s Implementation Dialogue on Talent Attraction and Retention, hosted by Commissioner Magnus Brunner. The dialogue focused on how EU rules on legal migration and talent mobility can be implemented more effectively, with particular attention to attracting and retaining talent for innovation.
Speaking from an employer perspective, SGI Europe highlighted the growing reliance of enterprises delivering services of general interest on international talent to support innovation. Sectors such as health, mobility, energy, water, housing and care increasingly require new skill profiles linked to digitalisation, the green and demographic transitions, and service modernisation.
Drawing on experience from the LABOUR-INT III project and the work of its Expert Group on Skills-Matching, SGI Europe underlined that talent relevant for innovation already exists, but is too often lost due to operational bottlenecks. Delays in early orientation, skills profiling and qualification recognition frequently prevent employers from accessing skills in time. In many cases, third-country nationals enter informal employment before their competences are documented, becoming invisible to institutions and employers alike.
SGI Europe stressed that these challenges are not primarily linked to gaps in legislation. Rather, they relate to implementation. Early skills assessment, predictable timelines for recognition and targeted occupational language support allow employers, including SMEs, to plan recruitment, invest in work-based learning and improve retention.
As the EU Talent Pool moves towards deployment, SGI Europe emphasised the importance of embedding such operational lessons into its implementation. Strengthening cooperation between public employment services, social partners, regional authorities and employers will be key to ensuring that EU talent initiatives deliver concrete results for innovation and labour market needs.
SGI Europe remains committed to contributing employer-driven, evidence-based input to support effective talent attraction and retention across the EU.
Contact: Cecilia Martin
Through the first-ever European Affordable Housing Plan, presented on 16 December 2025, the Commission puts the focus on increasing housing supply in the EU, boosting investment and reforms, and addressing problems with short-term rentals in stressed areas. People most affected by the housing crisis will be at the center of support measures, including young people, essential workers, and low-income earners.
A central element of the Plan is the revision of the SGEI State aid rules to facilitate Member State support for affordable and social housing. Aside from mobilizing investment, the new text seeks to simplify rules and procedures, including those related to permitting, to facilitate supply of housing.
The Plan also includes a European Strategy for Housing Construction, aimed at making the construction sector more innovative and productive, and addressing the mismatch between supply and demand. In addition, the Commission presented a Communication and a Council Recommendation on the New European Bauhaus, which intends to promote projects in the built environment that are affordable, sustainable and of high quality.
Finally, in cooperation with the European Investment Bank, national and regional promotional banks and other international financial institutions, the Commission will develop a new Pan-European Investment Platform. Support for housing will also continue under the next Multiannual Financial Framework.
The implementation of the European Affordable Housing Plan will be led by a new European Housing Alliance, consisting of representatives from Member States, regions, cities, EU institutions, social partners, industry, civil society and housing providers. The Commission will also host an EU Housing Summit in 2026.
Contact: Raquel Carro-Andollo
On 10 December, the European Commission adopted its EU Grid Package aiming at modernising and strengthening Europe's electricity network to meet its ambitious climate and energy security goals.
The European Commission has in its package recognised the implementation challenges of the increasing demand for sustainable and renewable electricity and aging grid networks and identifies concrete and tailor-made actions to unlock the investment required to get European electricity grids up to its standards. It focuses on implementation and fast delivery to reach the 2030 climate and energy goals. The actions focus on 7 areas; accelerating the implementation of Projects of Common Interest and developing new projects; improving long-term grid planning for a higher share of renewables and increased electrification; introducing regulatory incentives for forward-looking grid build-out; incentivising a better usage of the grids; improving access to finance; accelerating deployment through faster permitting and public engagement; strengthening grid supply chains.
Whilst welcoming the package, SGI Europe stresses that the Grid Package success lies on strong national implementation that tackles the most critical factors such as accelerating grid development, particularly at the distribution level. Here the DSOs will play a crucial role in the implementation of the energy transition as they are responsible for 70% of new renewable generation and new electrified demands (EVs, heat pumps). This will necessitate to mobilise large anticipatory investment estimated to at least 730 EUR billion grid networks alone by 2040. SGI Europe stresses here, that investment security must reassured by proactive planning and political stability.
SGI Europe also appreciates first steps to simplify the permitting process in the energy transition plans that are proposed under the Grid Package. In fact, the application of the overriding public interest status to grid projects to streamline legal challenges and overcome administrative bottlenecks is suggested to be realised in the course of the grid implementation. Here, SGI Europe also supports the introduction of the maximum time limits and simplifying procedures for smaller a smart grid infrastructure projects.
The SGI Europe Energy Task Force will further follow up on this development with concrete proposals for implementation to reach the energy transition goals and the EU climate targets for 2030 and 2040 in an SGI friendly manner.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On 15 December 2025, the European Commission presented a set of measures to strengthen the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), with the objective of closing loopholes identified during the transitional phase and reinforcing the EU’s climate ambition ahead of the mechanism’s full entry into force in 2026. The proposals aim to ensure that CBAM effectively prevents carbon leakage, supports global decarbonisation efforts and preserves the competitiveness of EU enterprises, while remaining compatible with international trade rules.
A key element of the package is the extension of CBAM to certain downstream, metal-intensive products, such as selected manufactured goods, in order to address risks of carbon leakage further along the value chain. The Commission argues that this expansion is necessary to avoid shifts in production outside the EU that could undermine climate objectives. At the same time, the proposal introduces stronger anti-circumvention measures, including reinforced monitoring and verification rules, to prevent fraud and attempts to bypass CBAM obligations.
The Commission also proposes adjustments to the treatment of electricity imports, notably by basing emissions calculations on average grid emissions. This approach is intended to simplify implementation, provide clearer price signals and support decarbonisation efforts in neighbouring countries, including in the context of future electricity market integration.
Finally, the package foresees the creation of a temporary Decarbonisation Fund, financed by national CBAM revenues, to support EU exporters of CBAM-covered products for a limited period. This support would be linked to decarbonisation efforts under the EU Emissions Trading System.
Overall, the Commission presents these measures as a way to make CBAM more targeted, robust and predictable, while balancing climate ambition with administrative feasibility and competitiveness concerns.
Contact: Maxime Staelens
On 3 December, the European Commission launched the Social Investment Knowledge Hub, a new platform bringing together data, analysis and examples on social investment policies across the EU. The Hub covers areas such as education and training, skills, childcare, long-term care, housing and social inclusion, and is intended to support Member States’ work under the European Semester and future EU funding frameworks.
The initiative reflects a growing focus on the role of social investment in addressing structural challenges, including labour and skills shortages, demographic change and territorial disparities. By improving access to evidence and policy tools, the Knowledge Hub aims to strengthen policy learning and the effectiveness of public investment.
SGI Europe welcomes the launch of the Hub and sees value in improving the quality and consistency of social investment analysis. However, social investments need to be closely linked to implementation capacity and financing conditions. Employers already finance the vast majority of training, while services of general interest face rising demand, workforce shortages and funding uncertainty.
Stronger links between the Knowledge Hub, EU and national funding instruments, national promotional banks and social infrastructure providers would help translate analysis into concrete investment decisions. Stable and predictable financing for SGIs remains a key condition for improving participation, productivity and job quality.
SGI Europe looks forward to engaging on the practical use of the Knowledge Hub, including through social partner involvement.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
SGI Europe sends you its best wishes for the festive season.
Our Newsflash will come back in January 2026.
Please note that the SGI Europe office will be closed from 26 December 2025 until 2 January 2026 included.
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