Newsflash - 24 March 2023

SGI Europe at the March 2023 Tripartite Social Summit

The Tripartite Social Summit (TSS) took place on Wednesday 22 March, in the presence of high-level representatives of the EU social partners, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Ulf Kristersson, Swedish Prime Minister. SGI Europe was represented by Pascal Bolo, President, and Valeria Ronzitti, General Secretary.

This year’s central theme was “Giving the right answers to Europe’s competitiveness challenges“. The participants intervened on three topics: ensuring a necessary competitive transformation while delivering an economically sound and just transition, mobilising the Skills Agenda to address recruitment problems, and making the Single Market more resilient while pursuing the ambitious trade agenda.

In the introductory round, President Pascal Bolo highlighted the necessity to rely on a revised European economic governance focused on multiannual debt and deficit reduction plans, taking into account Member States’ plans for reforms and investments and the need for a resilient Single Market to succeed in the environmental and digital transition. In the ensuing moderated discussion General Secretary Valeria Ronzitti added that SGIs are more than enabling elements of the EU competitiveness, but also some present and active in its key sectors.

Contact: Guillaume Afellat

Joint declaration of the SGIs Network presented at the TSS

Ahead of the Tripartite Social Summit held at the Council of the European Union on 22 March 2023, the SGIs Network, which gathers associations representing providers and employers of services of general interest (SGIs) and public services, published a joint statement.

With this joint statement, the signatories (SGI Europe, CEMR, CER, UITP, HOSPEEM and EFEE) recalled the five main pillars to ensure a consolidated EU Single Market and the success of in the digital and environmental transition:

• Ensure easy and stable access to EU funds and financing
• Address skills mismatches and labour shortages
• Rethink the Single Market on its 30th anniversary
• Ensure the success of a fair green transition
• Avoid the dominance of digital platforms

At the Tripartite Social Summit, the SGIs Network joint declaration was circulated to, among many others, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the Council of the European Union, Charles Michel, and the Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson.

Starting with the conclusions of the European Council of 23-24 March, providers and employers of SGIs will closely monitor the following actions in terms of competitiveness, Single Market consolidation and green and digital transition in order to ensure their adequate integration in the deployment of the EU industrial strategy.

Contact: Benoît Cassorla

Publication of the March 2023 Pulse of SGIs

On 22 March 2023, SGI Europe also published its Pulse of SGIs. Compiling the outcomes from a survey run amongst SGI Europe’s national sections in January and February 2023. Through its network of National Semester Contact Points and lead economists, SGI Europe gathered the views of its members on the overall economic situation, the current challenges faced by providers of services of general interest, and their involvement in shaping and implementing the National Recovery and Resilience Plans.

The Pulse of SGIs also takes stock of the economic context as a whole, as well as addresses the initiatives (both legislative and non-legislative) currently on the EU agenda.

You can consult it here.

Contact: Maxime Staelens

European Commission adopts new proposal on common rules promoting the repair of goods

On Wednesday 22 March, the European Commission published its proposal on common rules promoting the repair of goods, calling for a more sustainable production line with possibilities for reparations. The aim is to reduce waste, save money for consumers, build a sustainable business environment and be more mindful of raw materials.

The proposal is another EU policy drive to support the objectives of the EU Green Deal. It addresses the core issues of our current economy of replacement, with limited options of repairing or part replacements, and aims to facilitate in a cost-efficient way the repair of goods. With proposed incentives for producers and sellers, the European Commission hopes that a new market for more sustainable products and business models can be stimulated.

The new measures for a ‘Right to Repair’ include:

• Within the legal guarantee: Sellers will be required to offer repair except when it is more expensive than replacement.
• Beyond the legal guarantee, a new set of rights and tools will be available to consumers to make ‘repair' an easy and accessible option via:
  • A right for consumers to claim repair to producers
  • A producers' obligation to inform consumers about the products they are obliged to repair themselves.
  • An online matchmaking repair platform to connect consumers
  • A European Repair Information Form
  • A European quality standard for repair services

For SGI Europe, this proposal is a vital step towards waste reduction and the mindful use of critical raw materials. It will now be essential to set a supporting framework that addresses labour shortages in the repair sector and keep social partners involved in upgrading this green labour market and achieving the new objectives.

Contact: Henriette Gleau

European Commission launches the Public Procurement Data Space

On Thursday 16 March, the European Commission launched the Public Procurement Data Space (PPDS), a platform to access public procurement data (gathered at EU, national and regional levels) and harnessed the ability to analyse, improve transparency and re-use for policy. Up to now, only 20% of tenders are available and searchable for analysis in one place. The platform aims to improve the 80% of contracts spread in different formats, providing valuable insights to public buyers, policy-makers, businesses and interested citizens.

The PPDS will consist of four layers: the data source layer (consisting of the TED portal, the Member states public procurement portals and other public and private databases), the Integration layer (which will create a harmonised pool of public procurement data from the sources in “data source layer”), the analytics layer (analytics toolset including artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing) and the client layer (enable end users to access the data in the integration layer or from analytics layer).

SGI Europe welcomes the aims of the European Commission to reinforce knowledge-sharing practices in the field of public procurement. Such endeavours could significantly encourage public buyers to shift from standard procurement procedures to procedures that also consider green and social considerations. Whilst public procurement has a great potential to pursue policy priorities and support the green and social economy, it often needs to be improved by complexity in contract awarding due to the higher technical and documentation requirements.

Contact: Manca Pocivavsek