20 October 2023
On 19-20 October 2023, the Spanish presidency of the Council organised a conference on the follow-up to the European Pillar of Social Rights. The Conference analysed the status of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the ongoing initiatives of the Pillar’s Action Plan and various employment policies at the national level. SGI Europe (together with the Council – represented by the Spanish presidency, the upcoming Belgian presidency and the Swedish Ministry of Labour – the European Commission and the EU social partners) also signed the Barcelona Tripartite Statement on the European Year of Skills.
Participants in this event included representatives of the Spanish government and various ministries, representatives of the European Network of Public Employment Services, European agencies, Eurofound and CEDEFOP and the EU social partners. The main transversal focus of the conference was related to the shortages that Europe is facing today across all sectors of the EU economy and all skill levels.
Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, participated in a high-level panel discussion on “The Role of Social Dialogue in Identifying and Improving Skills" with representatives of the other cross-industry social partner organisations. During this panel, Mrs Ronzitti showcased SGI employers' role in addressing skills and labour shortages. She highlighted the outcome of the successful project on “Green skills in VET”, which had been concluded in 2022 and whose primary purpose was to provide concrete tools for social partners in the energy, transport and water sectors to identify the skills necessary for the green transition.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On Thursday 19 October 2023, SGI Europe participated in the PostEurop General Assembly in Bratislava. Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, addressed the first part of the Business Forum on “Reflecting on how global trends influence the postal industry and its business strategies”.
After a presentation by Ana Nicholis, Director of Industry Analysis for the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Valeria Ronzitti shared the stage with five other representatives from Ministry, postal federation, and civil society organisations. This panel was the occasion to connect postal operators and non-postal organisations on issues impacting both worlds, such as inflation, global trade, environment, taxonomy, etc. SGI Europe's General Secretary highlighted the Platform for Sustainable Finance role, in which SGI Europe is active, and the importance of the taxonomy issue for all SGI providers, including postal operators.
Mrs Ronzitti took this opportunity to share SGI Europe's vision on the role of Services of General Interest in the Future, including the part of postal operators both at the national and the European level. She also discussed the platform SGI Europe, through its SGI Network, gives SGI providers at the EU level to exchange best practices and lessons they learned in their different sectors.
Contact: Benoît Cassorla
On Monday 16 October, the Council agreed to its general approach to the proposed review of the urban wastewater treatment directive (UWWTD) review. This revision aims to update the directive by extending its scope and aligning it with the EU Green Deal’s objectives.
The Council’s text strikes a balance between keeping the main ambition of the proposed revision to improve the collection and treatment of urban wastewater and providing flexibility for member states in the implementation of the directive while ensuring a high level of protection for human health and the environment.
Amongst others, the Council proposes, to cover the additional costs entailed by quaternary treatment and in line with the ‘polluter pays principle’, that producers of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics leading to urban wastewater pollution by micro-pollutants would need to contribute to the costs of this additional treatment, through an extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme. The Council agreed that EPR should apply to any product on the market, in any country and by any means.
It also acknowledges that the urban wastewater treatment sector could play a significant role in significantly reducing GHG emissions and helping the EU achieve its climate neutrality objective. The Council has introduced an energy neutrality target, meaning that by 2045, urban wastewater treatment plants will have to produce the energy they consume, with progressive intermediate targets. This energy can be produced on or off-site, and up to 30% can be purchased from external sources. The general approach also calls for Member States to monitor health parameters in urban wastewaters to track the presence of pathogens responsible for human diseases and pandemics, such as SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19), poliovirus, and influenza virus.
As highlighted in its position paper, SGI Europe welcomes the calls to anchor the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme and the Polluter-Pays Principle in the UWWTD. SGI Europe also calls for all control at-source measures to have priority over one-sided end-of-pipe measures, as it makes economically and ecologically more sense to avoid pollution instead of removing it once they have entered the water cycle.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On Tuesday 17 October 2023, the European Commission published its Work Programme for 2024, titled “Delivering Today and Preparing for Tomorrow”. The 2024 Commission Work Programme outlines what the European Commission achieved during the past four years and what remains to be delivered for a more resilient EU for tomorrow’s challenges. It focuses mainly on further easing the burden for companies and rationalising reporting requirements in line with the strategy to boost the EU’s long-term competitiveness.
The European Commission also announced 18 upcoming policy initiatives, 26 initiatives to rationalise reporting requirements, 154 pending priority proposals already adopted by the Commission and currently in the hands of the European Parliament and/or the Council, and six proposals for withdrawal and 16 evaluations and fitness checks.
More specifically, the European Commission has confirmed that for the first half of 2024, new initiatives for water resilience (non-legislative), the 2040 climate targets (non-legislative), as well as legislative and/or non-legislative proposals on revising the European Works Council Directive and the follow-up to the Val Duchesse summit.
Contact: Maxime Staelens
On Wednesday, the Council reached an agreement (general approach) on a proposal to amend the EU’s electricity market design (EMD). The reform aims to make electricity prices less dependent on volatile fossil fuel prices, shield consumers from price spikes, accelerate the deployment of renewable energies and improve consumer protection. The European Commission proposed it in March 2023, and it is part of a wider reform of the EU’s electricity market design. The first trilogue with the European Parliament and the European Commission took place on Thursday 19 October.
In its position, the Council agreed that Member States would promote the uptake of power purchase agreements by removing unjustified barriers and disproportionate or discriminatory procedures or charges. Measures may include, among other things, state-backed guarantee schemes at market prices, private guarantees, or facilities pooling demand for power purchase agreements (PPAs). The Council agreed that two-way contracts for difference would be the mandatory model used when public funding is involved in long-term contracts.
The Council added flexibility regarding how revenues the state generated through two-way CfDs would be redistributed. Revenues would be redistributed to final customers and may also be used to finance the costs of the direct price support schemes or investments to reduce electricity costs for final customers. The Council also proposes to remove the temporary nature of the capacity mechanism and simplify their approval procedures.
To address potential future electricity crises, the Council reemphasised that Member States can apply regulated prices for energy-poor and vulnerable households and as a transitional measure for households and micro-enterprises whether or not there is an electricity price crisis. The reform adds a temporary option to apply regulated prices, even below cost, to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in times of crisis.
In its position paper adopted earlier this year, SGI Europe calls for the electricity market to remain resilient, based on sustainable and low-carbon energy technologies, consider the maturity of all technologies and apply the technology-neutrality principle with robust CO2 pricing. The new EMD must deliver on the EU climate objectives and enable a cost-effective transition by adding long-term market mechanisms to the existing short-term market. Energy efficiency must remain the core guiding principle for EU energy policy. To that aim, the reviewed electricity market has a pivotal role. Still, it needs to be accompanied by low-carbon technologies, renewable and decarbonised gases, district heating systems (wherever economically feasible), and a new hydrogen market.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
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