21 April 2023
On Friday 14 April, SGI Europe released its position on the revision of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD). In this paper, SGI Europe calls for maintaining a close link between the UWWTD and other environmental landmark strategies and legislations, such as the EU Green Deal, the Zero Pollution Action Plan and the Circular Economy Action Plan, whilst ensuring that the improvement of water quality should remain the primary goal.
In its position, SGI Europe calls for prioritisation of all control at-source measures before any reactive measurements of one-sided end-of-pipe measures. Avoiding pollution at the source is more effective than removing substances once they have entered the water cycle, which is difficult and costly for wastewater treatment plants. SGI Europe fully supports the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as a key instrument of the Directive, primarily to address pollution in the wastewater by pharmaceutical and beauty care industries. Introducing the EPR as a financing measure for quaternary treatment represents a milestone in implementing the polluter-pays principle in wastewater management and treatment. A robust EPR system must remain at the heart of the UWWTD.
Lastly, whilst supporting the coherent approach to achieving climate neutrality by 2050, SGI Europe recalls that improving the water quality should remain the primary goal of the Directive. SGI Europe underlines the need to reduce the energy footprint of wastewater treatment plants and supports the ambition of the European Commission to use own resources in addition to increased use of renewables. It will be important to stress that the definition of energy neutrality and its deadlines becomes more flexible according to local conditions.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
In the context of the EU Year of Skills, the European Commission presented on 18 April two proposals for Council Recommendations to support Member States and the education and training sector in providing high-quality, inclusive and accessible digital education and training to develop the digital skills of European citizens.
The first proposal for a Council Recommendation on the key enabling factors for successful digital education and training calls on Member States to ensure universal access to inclusive and high-quality digital education and training, to address the digital divide. It calls for a coherent framework of investment, governance and teacher training for effective and inclusive digital education, including guidance to implement a whole-of-government and multi-stakeholder approach.
The proposal addresses the varying levels of digital skills within different segments of the population and the ability of national education and training systems to address these differences. The proposal for a Council Recommendation on improving the provision of digital skills in education and training tackles each level of education and training by setting incremental objectives and targeted interventions for specific ‘priority or hard-to-reach groups, providing high-quality informatics in schools, mainstreaming the development of digital skills for adults, and addressing shortages in information technology professions.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On Wednesday, 19 April 2023, the European Commission started a public consultation on revising the SGEI de minimis regulation based on a draft text. The consultation will run for six weeks, closing on 1 June 2023.
Currently, the SGEI de minimis regulation sets a threshold of 500 000 EUR over any period of 3 consecutive fiscal years, below which any granting of aid for the provision of services of general economic interest, despite fulfilling all the elements, does not constitute aid due to its small amount (no effect on cross border trade). The SGEI de minimis Regulation forms a part of the 2012 SGEI Package, which was recently evaluated regarding the healthcare and social services sectors.
In the draft text, the European Commission proposes to increase the threshold under which any granting of aid is deemed as no State aid from EUR 500 000 to EUR 650 000. The proposed ceiling should reflect the increase in inflation. Another novelty is the alignment of certain concepts in the SGEI de minimis Regulation with the general de minimis Regulation, such as the concept of “single undertaking”, of “undertakings in difficulties”, and of “mergers and acquisitions.” Lastly, just like the ordinary de minimis Regulation, the SGEI de minimis regulation also introduces a mandatory public register at national or EU levels.
Without revision and prolongation, the regulation is set to expire on 31 December 2023. If prolonged as expected, it should be applicable from 1 January 2024 until 31 December 2030.
While welcoming the proposal for prolonging the SGEI de minimis regulation, aligning with the “ordinary” de minimis Regulation (see SGI Europe’s response to the public consultation here) and increasing the threshold, SGI Europe expresses some concerns regarding the introduction of a mandatory register. MEPs Christian Doleschal (DE, EPP) and Sabine Verheyen (DE, EPP) echoed those concerns a few weeks ago in a Parliamentary question to the Commission. MEPs also highlighted the role of public investment at the local authority level in achieving the EU's objectives.
Answering on behalf of the European Commission, Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager highlighted that the review of the de minimis Regulation must not be considered as a central instrument to achieve the EU objectives regarding climate change, digitalisation, economic development or cohesion. According to the Commission’s response, the revision is not going beyond merely aligning the threshold to inflation.
With its members active in the Public Services Board, SGI Europe will contribute to the consultation to ensure a balanced and pragmatic revision, which supports SGI providers in achieving their missions.
Contact: Manca Pocivavsek
This week, the plenary session of the European Parliament held a final debate on several key files of the Fit for 55 package, including the revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), the Carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) and the Social climate fund (SCF). Following the debates, the provisional agreements reached with the Council of the EU on those proposals were all adopted with a large majority of votes.
SGI Europe welcomes the adoption of the EU Emission Trading System’s (ETS) revision, one of the leading European instruments to fight climate change by reducing emissions. Including aviation and shipping in the ETS, systems should lead to a better level playing field between all modes of transport. Since the announcement of the revision of the ETS, SGI Europe called for putting in place accompanying measures to properly ensure the social fairness of the climate transition, especially supporting more vulnerable households. Hence, SGI Europe welcomes the overwhelming support for establishing the EU Social Climate Fund (SCF).
Finally, the adoption of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism represents an additional climate tool to encourage the decarbonization of the economy. The CBAM will set a fair price on goods entering the EU, contributing to levelling the playing field and putting the EU in the driving seat of the transition.
An in-depth analysis of the implementation and impacts of the measures will be conducted in 2025. SGI Europe will closely monitor these analyses and further promote the role of services of general interest and public services in the climate transition.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On Tuesday 18 April, the Commission adopted a proposal for the EU Cyber Solidarity Act to strengthen cybersecurity capacities in the EU. With this proposal, the European Commission aims to support the detection and awareness of cybersecurity threats and incidents, bolster the preparedness of critical entities, and reinforce solidarity, concerted crisis management and response capabilities across Member States.
To that aim, a European Cybersecurity Shield – a pan-European infrastructure composed of national and cross-border Security Operations Centres to detect and address cyber threats – and a Cyber Emergency Mechanism will be set up by 2024. The EU responses to future cyber threats will be further boosted by the Cyber Emergency Mechanism, which will increase preparedness and enhance incident response capabilities in the EU by improving preparedness, including testing entities in highly critical sectors (healthcare, transport, energy, etc.) for potential vulnerabilities, creating a new EU Cybersecurity Reserve consisting of incident response services ready to intervene, and providing financial support for mutual assistance.
The EU Cyber Solidary Act will build upon the EU Cybersecurity strategy and the EU framework to bolster collective resilience against increasing cybersecurity threats, including the Directive on measures for a high standard level of cybersecurity across the Union (NIS 2) and the Cybersecurity Act.
Contact: Manca Pocivavsek
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