2 February 2024
On 31 January 2024, Pascal Bolo, President, and Valeria Ronzitti, General Secretary, represented SGI Europe at the Val Duchesse Social Partners Summit. Co-organised by the European Commission and the Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU, this Summit gathered EU cross-industry social partners to reflect on the importance of social dialogue in tackling pressing challenges in the world of work.
On this occasion, Pascal Bolo, SGI Europe President, called for the Val Duchesse Summit to avoid becoming a one-off event with no future. It must initiate a process to review and update our tools and instruments for bipartite and tripartite social dialogue. SGI Europe is fully committed to further negotiating with our counterparts to make a difference for EU enterprises and workers.
Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, affirmed that SGI Europe wants social dialogue to address the concrete challenges faced by our members and their workers, with a strong focus on the need to anticipate better change on issues such as the implementation of the EU Green Deal, the spread of digital technologies and well-being at work. SGI Europe intends to explore how we can provide answers for our members through collective bargaining and give a wake-up call to social dialogue after today’s Val Duchesse Summit in the context of the discussions that will be launched toward a Pact for social dialogue as a crucial part to the Val Duchesse declaration.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On 30 and 31 January 2024, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of EU Organized its high–level conference on mental health and work to bring attention to the challenges related to the attrition of mental health in European Workplaces.
The first day focused on “Prevention of psychosocial risks, stress and burnout at work”. During the session on the views of the EU social partners, Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, highlighted that mental health is a public health issue that needs to be addressed at all levels, including through the deployment of sufficient resources to address its related issues. SGI Europe keeps advocating on the need to recognise the added-value of stable funding and long-term investment to equip the workforce with the necessary resources to accomplish their mission in a good working environment.
The parallel sessions offered interesting and different perspectives. Amongst those, SGI Europe member organisation HOSPEEM and its trade union counterparts - EPSU - presented the work done in the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee Hospital and Healthcare sector. Their recent joint projects have approached mental health from different angles, such as Occupational Safety and Health and Recruitment and Retention. The most recent addition will be the start of meetings to potentially update the multi-sectoral guidelines to tackle third-party violence and harassment related to work from 2010. The event underlined the importance of overcoming barriers related to mental health, and all institutions and levels of government must work together.
Contact: Maxime Staelens
On Monday 29 January, the European Parliament and the Council agreed on the new revised rules for the collection, treatment and discharge in the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD), presenting for the first time an Extended Polluter Responsibility (EPR) scheme for pharma and cosmetic industries.
For SGI Europe, the result is satisfactory. In line with the Polluter Pays Principle, the UWWTD defines for the first time an EPR scheme that helps urban treatment plants finance the fourth treatment stage of wastewater. Negotiators agreed that at least 80% of the corresponding cleaning costs should be borne by the manufacturers. This will be supplemented by national funds to cover the remaining costs, while Member States must continue to ensure affordability for medical treatments.
In the future, the wastewater will also be better monitored for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants, poliovirus, influenza viruses and emerging pathogens), including so-called “forever chemicals” and microplastics. Antimicrobial resistance will also be monitored in urban wastewater for 100,000 p.e. agglomerations and above.
In addition, municipal sewage treatment plants must gradually use renewable energy by 2045, in line with the targets set in the EU Green Deal. Negotiators also agreed to apply secondary treatment (i.e., the removal of biodegradable organic matter) to urban wastewater before it is discharged into the environment to all agglomerations of 1.000 population equivalent or more by 2035.
The agreement must now be consolidated before publication in the EU Journal. The final adoption of the new guideline can be expected by the end of April.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
For over two years, SGI Europe supported the Malta Employers Association (MEA) in implementing the ‘Social Partners Supporting Anticipation and Management of Change after COVID-19’ (SPAM-COVID-19) project.
While proposing actions related to business transformation to ensure resilience and sustainability of the business model, the objective of the project was to formulate and present tangible methodologies and recommendations for the management teams to amplify their interaction with employees, emphasising strategic planning, best practice change management approaches as well effective communication and training.
To provide a structured approach to managing change, the project led to the development of the “Change Management Business Manual”. Available in English, French, and Dutch, this exhaustive step-by-step document aims to help businesses in various sectors of the economy navigate the complex process of change more effectively while minimising risks and disruptions. You can consult the comprehensive project description and download the manual on our website.
Contact: Cecilia Martin
On Wednesday 31 January 2024, the European Commission appointed Markus Pieper as EU small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) Envoy. Mr Pieper will report directly to the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Mr Pieper, currently a Member of the European Parliament (since 2004), will take office in the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) and will also report to the Commissioner for Internal Market on all SME-related activities. The SME Envoy will also chair the SME Envoy Network, maintaining contact with the national SME Envoys and working hand-in-hand with business associations to advocate for the specific concerns and needs of SMEs within the Commission, in line with the Commission’s Better Regulation Agenda.
The main issues Markus Pieper will need to address will be the administrative burden on EU companies and filtering upcoming SME-related EU legislation in a regular dialogue with the Regulatory Scrutiny Board.
Contact: Maxime Staelens
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