21 February 2025
On Tuesday 18 February, SGI Europe’s General Secretary Valeria Ronzitti participated in a discussion on the Clean Industrial Deal with Executive Vice-Presidents Teresa Ribera, Stephane Séjourné and Roxana Mînzatu. A wide range of social partners participated in the meeting, both from the side of the employers and from the side of the trade unions.
Ms. Ronzitti reaffirmed SGI Europe’s commitment to establishing a European model of competitiveness based on strong services of general interest. She also highlighted the need to create a market for secondary products to develop a functioning circular economy. The best way to achieve that would be to introduce minimum recycled content criteria for producers.
She stressed the importance of a strong social dialogue as the various initiatives of the Clean Industrial Deal are brought forward. SGI Europe will continue to be active on all parts of the Clean Industrial Deal. These include a specific focus on revising the public procurement Directives, where we will push for simplification and balancing the needs of contracting authorities and bidders. We will also work on the taxonomy and ensure private investors use it effectively.
Contact: Ruben Sansom
On 19 February, SGI Europe’s General Secretary, Valeria Ronzitti, held a bilateral meeting with Roxana Minzatu, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, to discuss some of the major upcoming EU policy initiatives.
During the exchange, Vice President Minzatu highlighted her upcoming proposals on the Union of Skills, set to be published on 5 March 2025. She placed a strong emphasis on the need to enhance basic skills and digital skills, ensuring that workers across the EU are equipped for the evolving labour market.
In addition, she underlined the crucial role of essential services in the context of her responsibilities for preparedness, reinforcing the importance of resilient and well-supported services of general interest putting a special emphasis on the healthcare sector.
Finally, Vice President Minzatu stressed the need for employers to actively engage in the forthcoming EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, emphasizing that tackling poverty requires a collective effort, with enterprises playing a key role alongside public authorities and social partners. She also highlighted the importance of fostering social investments as a key pillar of the strategy.
SGI Europe will continue to closely follow these developments, ensuring that the voice of SGI providers and employers is heard in shaping these critical policy areas. Vice President Minzatu also expressed her readiness to work closely with the EU social partners on the implementation of the Pact for Social Dialogue and to actively involve them in defining the future Quality Jobs Roadmap.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
The conference "Living, Understanding, and Regulating the New Frontiers of Work" organised by the Rubes Triva Foundation at the European Parliament, brought together European institutions, social partners, and businesses to discuss workplace health and safety in emerging technologies.
Among the key speakers, Guillaume Afellat, Senior Policy Advisor at SGI Europe, emphasised the critical role of social dialogue in tackling the challenges and opportunities posed by artificial intelligence. "Engaging all stakeholders in constructive dialogue is essential to ensure that AI is implemented in a way that safeguards workers’ rights and enhances job quality”.
The event, featuring contributions from policymakers, academics, and industry leaders, explored the regulatory landscape of the AI Act, ethical considerations in technological innovation, and strategies to foster a safer and more inclusive digital workplace.
The conference concluded with a call for ongoing collaboration among institutions, businesses, and social partners to shape a responsible future for work in the AI-driven economy.
Contact: Delfina Bucci, Rubes Triva Foundation
On 18 February 2025, SGI Europe, in partnership with its partners UFE and BDEW, successfully organised two sectoral workshops dedicated to the energy and water sectors as part of the EU-funded A.C.C.E.S. project. These events in Brussels brought together experts, policymakers, and industry representatives to discuss key challenges and opportunities in these essential sectors.
The Energy Workshop explored the impact of climate change on the sector, focusing on infrastructure resilience, cross-border cooperation, and standardisation needs. Experts also discussed how best to ensure the affordability and accessibility of electricity during the energy transition, with a dedicated workshop session allowing participants to contribute their insights on monitoring sector resilience and affordability.
Similarly, the Water Workshop examined climate change adaptation measures, emergency response systems, and the affordability and accessibility of water services. Experts presented European case studies, highlighting best practices and innovative approaches. Participants engaged in group discussions to develop future indicators for monitoring water sector resilience and affordability, fostering an exchange of ideas and collaborative solutions.
We sincerely thank all the participants for their active engagement, valuable contributions, and commitment to addressing these critical issues. Your insights and expertise played a crucial role in the success of these workshops, and we look forward to continuing this critical dialogue in future A.C.C.E.S. initiatives, especially the project final conference.
Contact: Cecilia Martin
On 19 February, SGI Europe presented additional recommendations at the European Economic and Social Committee's (EESC) public hearing on the rising transport, energy, and housing costs. SGI Europe highlighted the urgency of addressing these price hikes and emphasised the vital role that quality public services play in ensuring affordability and fairness in transitioning to a low-carbon economy.
SGI Europe’s intervention centred on three main recommendations: decentralising and adopting technology-neutral policies for affordable energy, creating a supportive financial framework for sustainable transport, and fostering meaningful EU-wide dialogues on Green Deal implementation.
Firstly, SGI Europe called for a flexible and regionally tailored energy policy that avoids a one-size-fits-all approach, stressing the importance of embracing diverse energy solutions, including all possible decarbonised technologies that support reaching the climate goals as underlined in the SGI Europe Opinion paper on the EU Climate Architecture. This would ensure that the energy transition remains affordable while meeting climate goals.
On transport, SGI Europe advocated for a modal shift towards sustainable public transport, particularly rail, to reduce costs for citizens and help meet climate targets. SGI Europe proposed EU policies supporting infrastructure investment, internalising external costs, and enhancing competitiveness for greener transportation options.
Lastly, SGI Europe stressed the need for a social dialogue platform to engage EU social partners in the Green Deal’s implementation, ensuring that the transition is socially fair and inclusive. This dialogue should focus on developing green skills to support the labour market’s transformation.
For its next steps, the draft opinion will be presented in the plenary of TEN in mid-March. The adoption of the final opinion is planned for 30 April 2025.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On Tuesday 18 February 2025, SGI Europe was invited to the Committee on Europe and Local Public Services of the Association Française du Conseil des Communes et des Régions d’Europe – the French section of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions.
The meeting touched upon various topics of interest to SGI Europe: the European Semester and the reform of the EU Economic Governance Framework, as well as challenges faced by the local and public authorities with the digital and AI revolution we are experiencing.
This was also the occasion to introduce the work in creating the European Parliament intergroup on Social Economy and Services of General Interest (SGIs). Indeed, after months of work, exchanges, and negotiations with and between members of the European Parliament, the intergroup was created in January 2025, based on a decision of the European Parliament's quaestors.
An intergroup is a forum for informal exchanges of views on specific issues across different political groups, which is not legislative or official. On the one hand, this is the place to provide MEPs with first-hand information on the Social Economy and Services of General Interest. On the other hand, it gives SGI Europe access to lawmakers in order to keep SE & SGI-related issues on the European Parliament's political agenda.
The Intergroup aimed to show that SGIs are at the core of the EU social market and are also key factors in shaping the European way of competitiveness and an EU circular single market.
Contact: Benoit Cassorla
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