24 September 2021
On 23 September, SGI Europe’s Sustainability Board gathered and welcomed Mr Nathan Fabian, chair of the Platform on Sustainable Finance which is currently developing the last four remaining environmental objectives of the EU Taxonomy.
This meeting was an opportunity for SGI Europe members to directly exchange with Mr Fabian and address the areas of concerns for SGIs and public services within the development of the EU Taxonomy. During the meeting, members raised issues such as the use of biogas in the transport sector, circular economy and the treatment of waste-to-energy, as well as how to boost transparency and outreach to Member States and EU stakeholders.
Mr Fabian also acknowledged the importance of SGIs and public services for the EU socio-economic fabric. He further re-emphasised the importance of the seat of SGI Europe in the Platform, and called SGI providers to bring forward their expertise to make the EU Taxonomy complete and fit-for-use.
SGI Europe also submitted its response to the consultation on the technical screening criteria on the four remaining environmental objectives of the EU Taxonomy, accompanied by a dedicated position paper. The paper outlines SGI Europe’s support to making the EU Taxonomy an enabling tool to finance sustainable activities, whilst emphasising that more attention should be paid to SGIs and public services. SGI Europe also calls upon the European Commission to ensure technical assistance and capacity building by providing enabling EU funds: this will be essential to assess the compliance with the EU Taxonomy and secure the continuity of services of general interest in the green transition.
You can read the full response to the public consultation questionnaire here as well as the accompanying paper here.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On 21 September, SGI Europe submitted its feedback to the public consultation of the revision of the Urban Mobility Framework. SGI Europe supports the revision as it is important to update such a vital piece of EU legislation in the transport sector to meet the new climate targets of the EU Green Deal and reach climate neutrality by 2050.
SGI Europe is convinced that the addressed measures are not sufficient to give the cities and urban areas the necessary support they require in their decarbonisation process. In our response, SGI Europe especially wants to highlight the central role that public transportation plays on Europe’s path to a more sustainable and carbon neutral EU mobility strategy. For this reason, SGI Europe calls for a stronger and more active support to urban public transport in the next Urban Mobility Package.
You can read the full response of the public consultation questionnaire here and the position paper here.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
In a joint statement on the EU’s urban mobility framework, SGI Europe, together with a wide coalition of transport stakeholders (including, amongst others, CER, UITP, Eurocities and UNIFE), stressed that public transport and active mobility must be the foundation on which to build the change we need in our urban mobility systems.
Key recommendations include:
You can read the statement here.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
In the framework of the SGI Europe project co-funded by the European Commission, ‘Green Skills in VET’, the second Steering Committee Meeting took place on 15 September, bringing together the project partners and the external experts.
Alongside the national project partners, SGI Europe and the European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE) discussed with the research team of the Association for International and Comparative Studies in Labour and Industrial Relations (ADAPT), regarding the structure and content of the in-depth interviews which will be implemented with the participants from the water sector, gathering specific sectoral insights and practices.
The first sectoral workshop of the project will take place on 19 October 2021 with the support of SGI Europe’s member and project partner, EMATSA (Empresa Municipal Mixta d'Aigues de Tarragona SA). Bringing together SGI, VET providers, and policymakers, this workshop will represent a platform of dialogue and learning which will stimulate the exchange of best practices and seek to overcome the barriers that challenge the implementation of green-oriented training programmes in the water sector in Spain and across the targeted Member States.
Contact: Stefan Enica
Last Wednesday, the Commission published a policy programme ‘Path to the Digital Decade’, which aims to ensure that the EU achieves its objectives and targets towards a digital transformation of our society and economy. The programme sets out the concrete digital targets to be achieved by the end of the decade, as already the title of the programme reveals. Those targets are based on the 4 cardinal points: digital skills, digital infrastructures, digitalisation of businesses and of public services.
Regarding digital skills, the goal of the policy programme is that 80% of those aged 16-74 achieve basic digital skills by the 2030.
Regarding the digital infrastructures, improving connectivity for everybody and everywhere in Europe (including in remote and rural areas) will play a crucial role. The programme acknowledges the increased needs for download and upload bandwidth. The goal of covering all the populated areas with 5G should be achieved by 2030.
Further, regarding the digitalisation of businesses, the transformation will depend on their ability to adopt new technologies. As the new manufacturing processes and new business models will be based on the sharing of data, ensuring fair data sharing, especially for smaller players such as SMEs, will be essential.
The fourth point addresses ensuring public services online, with the goal that by the 2030, all online provision of key public services will be available for the EU citizens and businesses and that 80% of citizens will use a digital ID.
The proposal for “Path to the Digital Decade” is open to provide feedback until 18 November 2021.
Contact: Manca Pocivavsek
On 17 and 18 September, the first Citizens’ panel of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) gathered in the European Parliament’s premises in Strasbourg to discuss and select policy priorities based on the first Interim report of the Platform.
The CoFoE includes 4 Citizens panels with 200 participants each. Every panel deals with some of the topics on which people have been invited to propose ideas:
Panel number 1 which met in Strasbourg on 17 and 18 September selected 5 themes: working in EU (jobs); Economy for Future (economy); Just Society (justice); Learning in EU (Education) and Ethical and Social (Digital Transformation). Citizens in panel 1 also appointed 20 representatives for the Plenary on October 22-23.
The first session of the other 3 panels will be held on 24-26 September (Panel 2), 1-3 October (Panel 3) and 15-17 October (Panel 4).
The role of the panels is that of formulating recommendations, which will be discussed at the Conference Plenary with 20 representatives from each panel presenting the outcome of panels’ work.
However, the role and modalities of the CoFoE working groups - SGI Europe is participating in the ones on Climate-Environment and Health -, have not been finalised yet. The latter point raises some issues, particularly when it comes to how working groups will present their work and its scope in the context of the CoFoE.
Contact: Antonio Astolfi
SGI Europe will be present at the High-Level Conference “Quality Work for the Quality of Life” organised by the Slovenian EU Presidency on 7 October 2021. This conference will be a great opportunity to share the views and insights of SGI employers and providers on the important topic of quality and sustainable work, especially building up on the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The focus of the conference is put on identifying the factors for a successful and fair post-pandemic economic recovery based on a responsive, resilient and inclusive labour market. The conference will open discussions on important aspects of high-quality, i.e., sustainable work environments, health and safety, digital work, and work-life balance, whilst taking into account demographic change and equal opportunities. High-level speakers will include Nicolas Schmit, member of the European Commission for Jobs and Skills, Janez Cigler Kralj, Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of Slovenia, Élisabeth Borne, French Minister of Employment, and Joost Korte, Director-General at the European Commission (DG EMPL).
Different panels will address the multiple dimensions of sustainable and quality work, including on the views of the EU cross-industry social partners, the legal framework for occupational safety and health (OSH), the digital transition and telework, the opportunities and risks of new forms of work, and the skills dimension.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
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