20 February 2026
On 23 February 2026, SGI Europe, together with members of the SGIs Network and MEPs from the European Parliament Intergroup on Services of General Interest and the Social Economy, will host a high-level event in the European Parliament to launch the Coalition for the Freedom to Stay.
The debate will feature a keynote address by Enrico Letta, author of the report Much More than a Market, which has reshaped discussions on the future of the EU Single Market. Building on this vision, the event will explore how the Freedom to Stay can complement the Freedom to Move, ensuring that mobility remains a right while staying in one’s region is also a real and viable choice.
The discussion will be opened by Camilla Laureti (S&D, IT), Vice-Chair of the Intergroup, and will feature Karlo Ressler (EPP, HR). A panel bringing together representatives from across the services of general interest community will examine how affordable energy, housing, transport, healthcare and digital infrastructure form the enabling backbone of territorial cohesion and long-term competitiveness.
The event will conclude with remarks by Marion Walsmann (EPP, DE) and a call for action by Valeria Ronzitti, Secretary General of SGI Europe, formally launching the Coalition for the Freedom to Stay.
At a time when the completion of the Single Market is back at the top of the political agenda, SGI Europe underlines that strong and accessible services of general interest are not peripheral but central to Europe’s economic resilience, social cohesion and competitiveness across all territories.
Contact: Benoit Cassorla
On 13 February 2026, SGI Europe joined BusinessEurope, ETUC and SMEunited in hosting the final validation conference of the project “Improving skills matching in Europe”. The event brought together members, policymakers and stakeholders to discuss and validate the project’s findings and recommendations before the finalisation of the project report.
The project has analysed how social partners contribute in practice to reducing skills mismatches and shortages across Europe, focusing on their role in shaping national skills systems, improving matching and recruitment, and supporting upskilling, reskilling and workforce retention. Based on a literature review, a survey of 94 organisations, twelve country case studies and stakeholder exchanges, the study provides a comprehensive overview of social partners’ involvement and impact.
The findings show that social partners are involved in many parts of skills systems, particularly in the design of vocational qualifications, training curricula and occupational profiles, but their level of influence varies significantly across Member States and depends on how strongly they are embedded in governance structures. The report points to several challenges for improved skills matching and social partner involvement, including fragmented skills governance, uneven influence across countries, limited resources and insufficient coordination between institutions.
In the conference, SGI Europe underlined the practical relevance of the project, noting that skills shortages in sectors delivering services of general interest directly affect the quality, accessibility and resilience of essential services. The validation conference was an important part in ensuring that the final results of this project also reflect operational experience and support more effective action on the ground.
Following the validation conference, the project partners will now integrate the feedback received during the discussions to finalise and refine the report and recommendations, before its official publication.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On 24 and 25 February 2026, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) will host a high-level seminar in Berlin on “Supporting Migrants’ Integration into the Labour Market”, bringing together EU institutions, social partners, and national and local authorities within the framework of the LABOUR-INT III project.
The Berlin seminar will provide a structured exchange on how to move from policy commitments to effective delivery: discussions will connect the EU framework, with the participation of the European Commission, to Germany’s institutional approach to migrant labour market integration, highlighting practical challenges and lessons learned. A central strand of the event will focus on strengthening trade union capacity to effectively reach and support migrant workers, with contributions from LABOUR-INT III partners including ZSSS (Slovenia), OPZZ (Poland) and CITUB (Bulgaria). Exchanges will also address the enforcement of labour rights as a precondition for fair and sustainable integration, including cooperation through the European counselling network for fair mobility and UnionMigrantNet.
For SGI Europe, LABOUR-INT III illustrates how social dialogue can support effective labour market integration in essential sectors facing labour shortages. Ensuring fair recruitment, enforcement of rights and access to services of general interest is key to enabling participation, strengthening territorial cohesion and delivering sustainable integration outcomes across Europe.
The seminar in Berlin is part of a broader series of workshops organized by the ETUC under the LABOUR-INT III framework, aimed at strengthening capacity, sharing good practices and reinforcing cooperation among social partners across Member States. Colleagues interested in attending the Berlin seminar or receiving further information on the upcoming workshops are invited to contact SGI Europe to obtain the agenda and connection details.
Contact: Cecilia Martin
On 17th February, the Council of the European Union formally adopted a directive to update the regulatory framework for protecting surface water and groundwater. The decision expands the list of controlled substances and tightens environmental quality standards (EQS) to align with recent scientific findings on chemical toxicity and persistence.
The directive amends the Water Framework Directive, the Groundwater Directive, and the Environmental Quality Standards Directive. For the first time, it introduces EU-wide standards for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of synthetic chemicals known for their environmental persistence:
Addressing the complexity of modern pollution, the legislation introduces effect-based monitoring. This method assesses the combined impact of chemical mixtures on aquatic life, rather than evaluating substances in isolation. Member states are also encouraged to utilise remote sensing and earth observation technologies to enhance data accuracy.
The implementation timeline reflects the technical and financial challenges cited by member states during negotiations: the deadline for compliance with revised, stricter standards for pollutants in surface water, is set in 2033, while full compliance with all new groundwater and surface water standards is expected for 2039.
According to the latest River Basin Management data, approximately 46% of EU surface waters and 24% of groundwater bodies currently fail to meet existing chemical quality standards. This directive is intended to address these gaps by regulating emerging pollutants such as microplastics via specialised "watchlists."
The European Parliament is scheduled to hold a final vote in the March 2026 plenary session to conclude the legislative process.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On 10 February, the European Parliament formally voted on a political agreement to include a legally binding 90% net greenhouse gas reduction target for 2040 to reach the climate neutrality goal by 2050.
The revised law introduces several flexibilities, including the use of high-quality international carbon credits for up to 5% of emissions reductions starting in 2036. These credits may only be used in sectors that are not regulated by the EU emissions trading system and may only come from partner countries whose climate targets and policies are compatible with the targets of the Paris Agreement.
The Commission will conduct progress reports every two years, allowing for potential target reviews based on the latest scientific and economic data. Once the EU Council endorses the text, it will be a binding law for all Member States.
Following this decision, the European Commission has launched three new calls for evidence on the post-2030 policy architecture.
The topic will also be discussed during the upcoming meeting of SGI Europe’s Sustainability Board on 25 February 2026.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
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