22 October 2021
On Wednesday 20 October 2021, Pascal Bolo, SGI Europe President, and Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, addressed the Tripartite Social Summit (TSS) videoconference in presence of, amongst others, Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President, Charles Michel, European Council President and Janez Janša, Slovenian Prime Minister. Read more.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On 19 October, SGI Europe and the European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE) organised the first sectoral workshop of the European project ‘Green Skills in VET’ in Tarragona and focusing on the water sector. The workshop focused on the needs of the water sector, hosted by and organised with the support of our members, Empresa Municipal Mixta D'Aigues De Tarragona (EMATSA). Read more.
Contact: Stefan Enica
On Tuesday 19 October, SGI Europe General Secretary Valeria Ronzitti met with Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Economy and Labour. Building up on recent discussions during the meeting of the EPSCO Council, Deputy Prime-Minister Dermagne and General Secretary Ronzitti exchanged views on the EU priorities, including the investment needs to achieve a just green transition, as well as the role of services of general interest in fostering cohesion and fairness.
Contact: Antonio Astolfi
The European Commission presented on Tuesday 19 October, its communication “The EU economy after COVID-19: implications for economic governance”, relaunching the debate on the EU fiscal governance initially building up on the lessons from the pandemic. You can find our first reaction here.
Initially started in February 2020, the debate on the necessary revision of the EU economic governance was suspended to focus on responding to the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The communication intends to restart the debate on the basis of the February 2020 communication, whilst including the lessons learnt from the COVID-19 crisis.
The European Commission opened a consultation process on this occasion, inviting all stakeholders to contribute in order to build a broad-based consensus on the way forward. As EU social partner representing essential services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, SGI Europe intends to play a central role in the process.
Contact: Antonio Astolfi
On 21 October, SGI Europe submitted its amendment proposals to the Draft Report on batteries and waste batteries to the leading rapporteur Simona Bonafè (S&D, Italy) working within the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI).
SGI Europe welcomed the additional proposals of the rapporteur that have made an effort to adapt the revised proposal of the European Commission to the current trends and climate challenges. Drawing the connection between the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and the EU Green Deal to establish sustainable requirements along the value chain is a central piece in paving the way for recyclable, sustainable and safe batteries of all kinds. For SGI Europe, climate protection and economic development in the battery industry are not competitors but go hand in hand. It is therefore of vital importance to acknowledge that investments in sustainable solutions have an incredible impact on the environment, economic growth and have job-creating effects. SGI Europe underlined that public services and services of general interest (SGIs), which include members from the municipal waste management sector, can be key players in driving this new battery strategy and will be able to pave the way for other economic actors to follow. Therefore, we have welcomed the proposal for an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme but underlined the need for the additional reference to the Waste Framework Directive to ensure coherence and avoid confusion.
In December 2020, the Commission proposed its legislative initiative on batteries that laid down three main pillars: strengthening the functioning of the internal market (including products, processes, waste batteries and recyclates), by ensuring a level playing field through a common set of rules, promoting a circular economy, and reducing environmental and social impacts throughout all stages of the battery life cycle. The battery initiative can play an important example in showcasing Circular Economy that works for the economy, society, and the environment. Europe has the chance to take a major lead by making circular products and services the standard in the future.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On Thursday 21 October 2021, the plenary of the European Parliament adopted its Resolution on the Climate, Energy and Environmental State aid guideline (415 ‘for’, 220 ‘against’, 51 abstentions), laying out the position of the institutions on the upcoming review of the guidelines.
The topic was also on the agenda for debate on Tuesday, allowing MEPs to directly exchange with the European Commission, represented by Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, and the European Council, Anže Logar, Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Opening the discussion, Mr Logar emphasised the importance of the CEEAG in supporting projects to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. In her speech, Ms Vestager put the goal of achieving the just transition in the context of the recent spike of energy prices and the urgency to move away from fossil fuels’ dependency. To that aim, high investments in infrastructure, solar plants, wind and decarbonisation of the industry will have to be supported by state aid interventions where the market alone cannot deliver. She added that the Commission received more than 700 responses to the Public Consultation on the draft, showcasing the central importance of the topic for the EU economy. Presenting the resolution of the European Parliament, MEP Markus Ferber pointed out that the ambitious CEEAG will require a massive change in the economic model. He furthermore stressed out that with the guidelines, less sectors will be eligible for the state aid, meaning that 75% could be cut off from the funding.
SGI Europe responded to the Consultation, pointing out the main issues regarding the referral to ‘no significant harm’ standard in Taxonomy Regulation, clean mobility and incentive effect, avoidance of single notification obligation, improvement of energy efficiency of buildings and other categories of aid etc.
Contact: Manca Pocivavsek
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