23 June 2023
Today, on the UN Day of Public Services, SGI Europe organised an event "The Single Market at 30: What role for Services of General Interest?", with the support of the Employers' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee. Amongst other, SGI Europe welcomed on this occasion Oliver Röpke, President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Pascal Bolo, President of SGI Europe and, as keynote speaker, Maroš Šefčovič, European Commission Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight, with a focus on “Strategic foresight and its relevance for the Single Market”.
A full recap of the event will be provided in the Newsflash on 30 June 2023.
On 14 June, SGI Europe finalised its recommendations for the ongoing trilogue negotiations of the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). You can consult them here.
SGI Europe’s core message is to avoid jeopardising the EPBD by imposing unreachable and unaffordable measures to reduce emissions in buildings. The objective of zero-emission buildings in the building stock cannot only be achieved through the highest efficiency standard. Data collected by SGI Europe members highlight that the complete energy retrofitting of all buildings to high-efficiency levels cannot be financed by tenants, landlords, homeowners, or Member States.
At the same time, SGI Europe underlines that it is crucial to reach the goal of the EU to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. However, it must be left to national and local levels to decide on the most efficient and socially sustainable strategies to achieve this aim. SGI Europe calls for a set of solutions to decrease significantly emissions in buildings whilst balancing the social and economic impacts of this new revision. EU’s climate targets will only be reached if the focus is put on CO2-free heat supply and is combined with buildings cost-efficiently upgraded to a level compatible with the provisions of low carbon heating and cooling (for instance, via heat pumps).
About the trilogue negotiations, SGI Europe urges the co-legislators to ensure that the efficiency side of zero-emission buildings in the existing stock is not defined at the EU level and that the EPBD does not include a building-specific renovation obligation of 30% or 45% of buildings by 2033, as this requirement would lead to a renovation rate of 5% per year (at least for the Member States that do not have a Minimum Energy Performance Standard).
SGI Europe calls for a balanced approach that considers not only the building envelope's energy efficiency but also local energy resources for the gradual decarbonisation of heating and cooling systems, the social and economic situation of residents and their demand for better and affordable general housing conditions.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On 14 June, the SGI Europe Sustainability Board agreed to its recommendations for a more robust, supportive and technology-neutral Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA). The NZIA can enable the transition to low-carbon energy whilst strengthening the European industry in strategic technologies and supporting faster and more efficient permitting processes for the necessary green transition.
SGI Europe calls for the inclusion in the Strategic Net-Zero Technologies (SNZT) of all low-carbon technologies currently in use, including existing nuclear and hydropower. Each technology in the NZIA should be regarded through its contributions to the EU’s climate neutrality goal of 2050 and the resilience of EU energy security.
SGI Europe should pay attention to other societal interests, such as community development, electricity networks and other industrial projects, which could be at risk when applying a system of priority status in the permitting processes. SGI Europe generally believes detailed regulation should be avoided at the EU level to allow for national and local solutions.
Lastly, SGI Europe, as a cross-sectoral EU association representing energy, transport, housing, water, waste management and telecommunications, considers that the European Commission should provide more guidance and propose adaptation solutions to the EU environmental, climate and water regulation to facilitate and speed up processes and deploy low and climate-neutral technologies.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On Tuesday 21 June 2023, SGI Europe joined the meeting organised by the European Commission Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) on the upcoming communication on “Enhancing the European Administrative Space (ComPAct)”. This meeting gathered sectoral and cross-sectoral social partners and representatives of the DG REFORM. It was the occasion for Nathalie Berger, Director for Support to Member State reforms, and her team to explain the aim of the communication.
Relying on a strong political context nurtured by the EU Years of Skills, the EC Communication on long-term competitiveness, the EU cohesion policy as well as the EU Strategic Foresight Report, the following communication will have four main objectives to strengthen the EU Public Administrative Space:
Representing, among others, its members from the local and central public administrations, SGI Europe shared its views on this upcoming European Commission communication. Tor Hattlevol, chair of the SGI Europe Macroeconomic Task Force representing the Swedish Local government association, also attended the meeting. SGI Europe welcomes this initiative and will continue to feed the work of the European Commission to make public services and administrations effective, accessible and future-proof.
Contact: Benoît Cassorla
On Tuesday 20 June 2023, the European Commission put forward its proposals for reviewing and adjusting the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027. This proposal considers the most recent social, economic and geopolitical developments, such as Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, the spike in migration flows, the steep acceleration in inflation and interest rates and the commitment to reinforce the EU’s open strategic autonomy.
The European Commission’s proposals intend to provide for targeted reinforcements in a limited number of priority areas to ensure that the EU budget can continue to deliver on the most essential objectives. The main elements put forward are:
In line with the commitments agreed in 2020 on the MFF, the European Commission has today put forward new proposals for supporting its own resources. The package proposed on 20 June 2023 includes a new temporary statistical own resource based on company profits, as well as the adjustment of the own resources proposals based on the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) - compared to the original proposals from December 2021.
Contact: Maxime Staelens
On Thursday 15 June, rapporteur MEP Alin Mituța (Renew, RO) published the Gigabit Infrastructure Act (GIA) draft report. The GIA repeals Directive 2014/61/EU (Broadband Cost Reduction Directive) and updates the 2014 Directive on deploying electronic communications networks.
The draft report amends the Commission’s proposal to reach climate neutrality targets, a proposal to abolish retail surcharges for regulated intra-Union communications by prohibiting the providers from applying higher tariffs to regulated intra-EU communications terminating in another Member State. This would avoid excessive charges for consumers. Furthermore, the draft report expands access to physical infrastructure and privately owned buildings.
In his draft report, MEP Mituta proposes to specify the type of public civil works and information to be made available to facilitate the deployment of very high-capacity networks by issuing guidelines on what kind of civil works.
Moreover, the Rapporteur wishes to speed up the timelines for granting permits by shortening the Commission’s proposal to 3 months, with a possibility to extend the three-month deadline for up to three months.
Regarding the Single Information Point, which is with the change of legal instrument from a Directive to a Regulation becoming mandatory, the Rapporteur proposes an amendment to encourage the Member States to carry out a comprehensive assessment of already existing digital tools at national, regional and local levels and build on best practices, to avoid duplication.
Contact: Manca Pocivavsek
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