24 February 2022
On 23 February 2022, SGI Europe organised the 8th awarding ceremony of its CSR Label, hosted in Paris by EDF. On this occasion, 19 enterprises of services of general interest were awarded the SGI Europe CSR Label, underlying their commitment to applying a responsible economic model based on high values of social responsibility and environmental protection at all levels of activities. You can find the compilation of the best practices awarded here.
Opening the awarding ceremony, Pascal Bolo, SGI Europe President, said:
"The SGI Europe CSR Label is the proof that social responsibility is a matter for all companies: public service companies of all sizes are champions in this field. By their nature and the essentiality of their activities, they are often at the forefront of social development and participate fully in the construction of a new modern, sustainable and united European society."
"SGI enterprises are vectors for modernising public action and anticipating change. They innovate, reinvent ways of doing and thinking, and improve the quality of their services whilst cushioning the effects of crises for citizens. They are at the heart of the development of a more resilient society, integrating the lessons of the pandemic and ensuring the success of the green and digital transitions."
List of awarded enterprises with the SGI Europe CSR Label in 2022:
Contact: Stefan Enica
Ahead of the awarding ceremony, SGI Europe organised a dedicated workshop on the implementation of the EU taxonomy, with the participation of Nathan Fabian, chair of the Platform on Sustainable Finance (PSF), Helena Vines Fiestas, chair of the Data & Usability Subgroup of the PSF, and Antje Schneeweiss, chair of the Social Taxonomy subgroup of the PSF.
Commenting on the workshop, Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, said:
"Sustainable finance is a key pillar of the future of corporate social responsibility. At the EU level, if implemented in the right framework, the EU taxonomy can become an enabling tool to realise the objectives of the EU Green Deal and redirect capital flows towards environmental and social sustainable economic activities."
"Capacity building will be essential for assessing SGIs' compliance with the EU Taxonomy and ensuring the continuity of essential services. SGI Europe is committed to creating a new learning framework that will support SGI providers in adapting to the sustainable finance framework and scaling up their actions towards improving their environmental and social sustainability."
The workshop places SGI Europe at the forefront of the implementation of the EU Taxonomy. SGI Europe also announced the ambitious objective to create a new generation of CSR Label for SGIs, which will focus on the EU Taxonomy, and aim to continue this capacity building exercise.
Contact: Stefan Enica
On 22 February 2022, SGI Europe organised the first training session in Paris, France, of our project ‘Involving SGIs in the European Semester’. The meeting, gathering SGI Europe members from all over Europe, was dedicated to exchanging practices and identifying how to get better involved in the European Semester process at national level.
The European Semester is the cycle of economic, fiscal, labour and social policy coordination within the EU, and the project supports SGI Europe’s members engagement and consultations within this institutional framework. During the training session, issues such as communicating the impacts of the European Semester and involving members in regular contacts with the relevant representatives within ministries and governments were addressed. Practices such as the preparation of monitoring reports and the issuance of joint positions between employers and trade unions were presented by participants.
Finally, participants explored how to best analyse key documents of the European Semester, such as the National Reform and Resilience Plans. Three subsequent sessions of the project will be organised in 2022, with a focus on policy contents and reform priorities of the Semester and a focus on drawing lessons learnt through the trainings / masterclass of best practices and ways to improve.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On 24 February, SGI Europe organised its first meeting of the Sustainability Board of 2022, chaired by Mr Jean-Eudes Moncomble. On this occasion, SGI Europe members met with MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen (FI, EPP), co-rapporteur on the EU Taxonomy at the European Parliament. The main issue addressed with MEP Pietikäinen was the framework for Sustainable Finance, and specifically the complementary delegated act (CDA) to the EU taxonomy on natural gas and nuclear proposed by the European Commission. SGI Europe presented the position agreed on the topic, whilst also expressing their views on the Taxo4 environmental objectives and the upcoming delegated act. The board also addressed the broader picture and the implementation of the Taxonomy, in link with the SGI Europe CSR Label (and the awarding ceremony held on 23 February).
The Sustainability Board also welcomed Frank Siebern, Head of Unit “Fair Green and Digital Transition” (DG EMPL, European Commission), and discussed the vital role of SGIs in the green transition, especially in the context of the Proposal for a Council recommendation on ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On 23 February, the SGI Europe Transport Task Force exchanged views on the revision of the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) with Mr Kristian Hedberg, Head of Unit “Sustainable and Intelligent Transport” (DG MOVE, European Commission). During this meeting, chaired by Monika Unterholzner (Wiener Lokalbahnen), SGI Europe members highlighted their key messages and priorities on, amongst others, the need for a level playing field on sharing data.
During the meeting, members also exchanged on Multimodal Digital Mobility Services (MDMS), in views of finalising the SGI Europe position paper on the topic.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On Wednesday, 23 February 2022, European Commission presented long awaited proposal of Data Act. The proposal is the last piece of horizontal legislation from the Commission's data strategy.
The Data Act introduces measures to allow users of connected devices to gain access to data generated by them, which is often exclusively harvested by manufacturers. It also proposes to share such data with third parties, measures to rebalance negotiation power for SMEs in data sharing contracts, and B2G data sharing in cases of exceptional circumstances.
Whilst it is still too soon to fully assess the impact of the Data Act on the sharing obligations for our members, however, there is one point that SGI Europe can univocally welcome – the adjustment of the SME definition. When determining the scope of B2C and B2B data sharing obligations, the Proposal explicitly refers only to the Article 2 of the Annex to Recommendation 2003/361/EC, leaving aside the ‘ownership criterion’ that is detrimental to many of our members. This is an important step forward to support LPSEs in alleviating the administrative burden. Together with the proposal for a Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence, Data act was a second proposal presented on the same day that shifted from the full definition as included in the Recommendation 2003/361/EC. We invite the Commission to continue with this good practice of tailoring the approaches of defining SMEs to best suit the different purposes of the legal texts.
Contact: Manca Pocivavsek
On Wednesday 23 February, the European Commission also adopted a proposal for a Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence laying down rules for companies to respect human rights and environment in global value chains.
According to the proposal, companies will be required to address adverse impacts of their activities on human right and on the environment, in order to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour towards building a sustainable economy and society and ensure the full respect of the EU international commitments.
Companies that fall within the scope of the Proposal of the Directive are divided into three groups, subject to their legal entity and size (headcount of the employees), net turnover, sectors (qualifying as high-impact sectors) and legal seat (EU-based or non-EU-based).
SGI Europe welcomes the fact that the proposal foresees that only ‘large undertakings’ with high net turnovers (500+ employees and 150 million EUR net turnover worldwide) will have to comply with the due diligence rules. A shift from the SME Definition as included in the Recommendation 2003/361 is crucial for many of our members, specifically the Local Public Service Enterprises (LPSEs). The referral to the ‘large undertakings’ is better suited to target companies that have enough resources to take the lead in transforming the business environment and prevent additional administrative burden falling on those LPSEs.
The proposed Directive will apply to companies’ own operations, their subsidiaries and their value chains.
Contact: Antonio Astolfi
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