21 December 2023
On Wednesday 20 December, the Spanish presidency reached a political agreement from the 27 member states of the European Union on reforming fiscal rules during the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin). With this achievement, the Spanish presidency has fulfilled the mandate given by the EU European Council to reach an agreement before the end of the year. You can consult SGI Europe’s press release here.
The agreement guarantees gradual and sustained deficit and debt reductions, with a counter-cyclical impact and the protection of green, digital, social and defence investments. It should give countries greater control over their pace of adjustment, but also includes minimum fiscal discipline requirements. The agreement brings forward simpler rules, adapted to the post-pandemic reality, realistic and balanced to reduce debt in a manner that is compatible with boosting investment, and inclusive growth. It also preserves the two fundamental elements of the European Commission's proposal: the rules being adapted to the characteristics of each member state and based on a single indicator, the path of spending.
The Council agreement also includes safeguards with benchmark thresholds for all countries to ensure an effective annual average reduction of one percentage point in the debt ratio for countries with debt above 90% and 0.5% for those between 60% and 90%. The rules provide for a transitional regime until 2027 that softens the impact of the increase in the interest burden, protecting investment capacity.
Trilogue discussions involving the EU Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission are expected to begin shortly. Once formally adopted by the Council and the Parliament, the new rules will be published in the EU's Official Journal and enter into force in 2024, with effect from the 2025 budget planning.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
Since 2022, SGI Europe has been actively supporting the implementation of the project “Social Partners Supporting Anticipation and Management of Change after COVID-19”, run by the Malta Employers’ Association and with the support of the European Commission. Set up to better understand the changes stemming from the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in the workplace, the project developed actions and activities related to business transformation to ensure the resilience and sustainability of enterprises. It aimed more specifically at formulating and presenting tangible methodologies and recommendations to amplify interactions with employees, emphasising strategic planning, exchanges of best practices, management approaches, as well as effective communication and training.
By integrating comprehensive insights gathered through desk research and surveys, and drawing from data collected in several round tables with businesses and associations operating in different fields, the final outcomes of the project were gathered into a manual, providing a structured approach to managing change and helping businesses in various sectors of the economy to navigate the complex process of change more effectively. The manual is available in English, French and German.
Contact: Cecilia Martin
In response to the ongoing consultation by the European Commission of the performance of the European Labour Authority (ELA), SGI Europe highlights that the ELA is an EU agency with broad and important functions in the field of labour mobility and which seeks actively to find common ground between employers and workers.
In particular, SGI Europe stresses that the supporting, informative and capacity-building missions of ELA are very important. The authority should continue to develop in a positive direction, in line with the authority's mission according to the current ELA regulation. To this effect, SGI Europe welcomes the fact that ELA has sought to increase its visibility and its activities through sectoral campaigns, combining awareness raising and information with coordinated and joint inspections.
ELA's supporting role for the Member States, the voluntary nature of the work with full respect for Member States' competencies and the role of the parties, collective agreements, and different labour market models are important to preserve and monitor. The ELA provides added value by connecting members of national enforcement authorities and facilitating information exchange across borders.
The authority today already has a very extensive area of activity and scope of application. SGI Europe believes that a prerequisite for continued good ELA results is that it continues to prioritise different subject areas within its areas of competence year after year and that the authority's work does not float out or broaden further. It is essential that social partners continue to be involved in all relevant parts of ELA's work with respect for their role and autonomy, including collective agreements, at the EU and national level.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On 18 December, members of SGI Europe’s Environment Task Force approved its position on the European Commission’s proposal to revise the Waste Framework Directive (WFD).
Considering the fast-changing and increasing textile waste in Europe, SGI Europe welcomes the European Commission’s proposal to bring the needed focus on the collection, transport and sorting of textile waste. To this end, SGI Europe deems it important to establish a holistic approach to harmonise this Directive amongst services of general interest.
SGI Europe especially supports the Commission's proposed rules to make producers more responsible for the full lifecycle of textile products and to support sustainable management of textile waste in Europe. Introducing an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) on textiles can make waste textile management more efficient and sustainable from an economic, social and environmental point of view. Above all, through an adequate price signal by the eco-modulation, EPR can push the industry to improve the quality of textile products placed on the market regarding their durability, reusability and recyclability.
Against this background, SGI Europe highlights its following recommendations to improve further the proposals set by the European Commission:
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On Wednesday, 20 December, the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached a deal on the core political elements of five key regulations that will review the EU's legal framework on asylum and migration. This agreement should pave the way to a complete overhaul of the EU migration policy and was one of the main political pledges of the von der Leyen Commission.
Parliament and Council negotiators agreed on the final form of five separate EU regulations: Asylum and migration management regulation, Crisis and force majeure regulation, Screening regulation, Asylum procedures regulation and Eurodac regulation. They will establish how to share the management of asylum and migration flows among member states and what to do in cases of sudden migratory crises. The rules also regulate how to deal with people arriving at the EU’s external borders, the processing of asylum claims, and the identification of those arriving.
Together with the EU social and economic partners, SGI Europe will start in 2024 the activities of the Labour-INT 3 project with the support of the European Commission. Building upon the Labour-INT I and II, this project will further strengthen the multistakeholder approach to facilitate the integration of migrants and refugees into the EU labour market.
Contact: Benoît Cassorla
SGI Europe sends you its best wishes for the festive season.
Our Newsflash will come back in January 2024.
Please note that the SGI Europe office will be closed from 26 December 2023 until 2 January 2024 included.
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