22 April 2022
On Wednesday 20 April 2022, the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) discussed the upcoming trilogue negotiations on the mandatory natural gas storage proposal ahead of next winter, which will be dealt with a special fast-track procedure in the European Parliament. MEP Jerzy Buzek (PL, EPP) is negotiating on the Parliament’s behalf.
During this meeting, lead negotiator MEP Buzek confirmed that the European Parliament would be ready to engage in trilogue negotiations with the European Council and the European Commission at the beginning of May, hoping to agree on the text by the end of May and vote after trilogues in June.
Amongst the key concerns highlighted by MEPs, topics such as the impact of the mandatory filling up on gas prices, the sourcing of the gas (including the issue of fracking and Russian gas), as well as the proposed filling levels, the level of penalties in case of failure to comply and the legal burden of responsibility.
In line with the ambition of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU to wrap up the file, the European Council is speedily progressing, both in working groups approaching the proposed legislation “article by article” and at Coreper level. Meanwhile, to better consider the most recent developments and gas price increases, the European Commission is also preparing a new impact assessment, better in line with the constantly evolving situation.
Ahead of the publication of the REPowerEU plan scheduled on 18 May 2022, SGI Europe is currently finalising its position, including addressing the short-, medium- and long-term risks stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Contact: Ariel Carpanini
On Wednesday 13 April, the European Commission launched a call for evidence on the impact assessment for the Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI), a transparent mechanism to respond quickly to emergencies and crises that threaten the functioning of the single market. The deadline to respond to the call for evidence is 11 May 2022.
With this initiative, the European Commission will assess a range of policy options for the content and scope of the Instrument, combining legislative and non-legislative measures. The possibilities could be structured along two pillars operational in a specific phase: crisis preparedness and crisis response.
SGI Europe will monitor the developments of this initiative, with a particular focus on the possibility of tackling crises by providing clarifications and options for joint actions in the area of, amongst others, public procurement.
Contact: Manca Pocivavsek
On Tuesday 19 March, the new European Parliament Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic held its first constitutive meeting with members electing Kathleen Van Brempt (S&D, BE) as Chair of the committee and Andreas Glück (Renew Europe, DE), Ewa Kopacz (EPP, PL), Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA, FR) and Karol Karski (ECR, PL) as Vice-Chairs.
The Special Committee, which was established on 10 March 2022, is composed by 38 members with a 12-month term which may be extended further.
The bulk of the Committee’s work will focus on 4 pandemic-related areas: health; a coordinated response respecting democracy and fundamental rights; the societal and economic impact; and the EU and the world (you can find here the text of the EP decision detailing objectives and tasks).
Commenting on her election as Committee Chari, MEP Kathleen Van Brempt highlighted that, by tacking stock of the lessons learnt during the pandemic and over the past years, the main goal of the group is of providing reccomandations to build a Union that is better prepared for future crises.
The first ordinary meeting of the special committee is planned for 11 May.
Contact: Antonio Astolfi
As part of the Rubes Triva Foundation’s International Festival of Health and Safety at Work which will take place in Urbino (Italy) from 4 to 6 May 2022, SGI Europe is organising a dedicated panel on the Conference for the Future of Europe (CoFoE) during the morning of the first day (10:00 – 13:00) to offer participants a comprehensive overview of the Conference and its future developments.
Together with the keynote speaker Maroš Šefčovič, European Commission’s Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight, the panel will feature Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, Marco Cilento, Head of Institutional Policy at the European Trade Union Confederation
Manuela Bora, Member of the CoFoE, and Mario Leone, Director of the Institute of Federalist Studies Altiero Spinelli. The invite has also been extended to the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi Di Maio.
The session will be opened by Federica Titas, President of the Students’ Council of the University of Urbino. Filippo Gaudenzi, journalist at RAI, will be moderating the discussion.
Participation in the CoFoE and in the Festival sessions is possible both in-person and remotely by selecting the appropriate option when registering. To register please go to the website of the festival, select the item “to participate” from the menu and choose one or more sessions of interest.
Contact: Antonio Astolfi
The European Commission will publish a dedicated initiative on social dialogue in the third quarter of 2022. It will consist of two components: a chapeau Communication on strengthening social dialogue in Europe and a proposal for a Council Recommendation on the role of social dialogue at the national level. The Communication will introduce the rationale for the Recommendation and its key messages on strengthening national social dialogue, and it will outline key actions on strengthening EU social dialogue. In addition, before this publication, the European Commission is organising several dedicated hearings to gather the European Social partners’ input about the content of the future initiative. In this context, the Commission has already scheduled two dedicated hearings on a new supporting frame for social partners agreements and the review of sectoral social dialogue.
The social partners will further exchange views with the Commission on 28 April, focusing on the social dialogue communication and on 31 May on the proposal for a Council recommendation on social dialogue. To formalise their input, the EU cross-sectoral social partners will strive during these two forthcoming meetings to find common positions and issue joint messages to the European Commission to be more impactful. To this purpose, employers and workers at EU level will meet regularly in the coming month to bring their respective positions closer together. This process should be concluded by a conference on social dialogue organised on 28 June, which will also be the opportunity to officially present the new EU social partners work programme 2022-2024.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
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