26 March 2021
On Wednesday 24 March, President Pascal Bolo and General Secretary Valeria Ronzitti represented SGI Europe at the Tripartite Social Summit, with the participation of Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and António Costa, Portuguese Prime Minister.
Assessing the response to the COVID-19 crisis over the last 12 months, Pascal Bolo welcomed the decisive action undertaken by the EU, such as the creation of the SURE, the activation of the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact and the Next Generation EU, to prevent a complete collapse of our socio-economic model. President Pascal Bolo also commented the continued need for support to enterprises, SGI priorities on Next Generation EU and the economic recovery and the way forward post-COVID19. You can read more about our contribution on our press release.
SGI Europe also presented to the EU Leaders the contribution of SGI employers and providers to the Recovery and Resilience Plans across Europe. You can consult the document here.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
Ahead of the videoconference meeting of the European Council on Thursday and Friday, SGI Europe addressed EU leaders with our priorities for the post-COVID19 recovery, with a focus on a new socio-economic paradigm based on high-quality SGIs, digitalisation of SGIs and an inclusive Conference on the Future of Europe and recovery. You can read the full letter here.
Contact: Maxime Staelens
On Wednesday 24 March, the European Commission presented its proposal for a new EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, as well as a proposal for a Council Recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee. With those proposals, the European Commission intends to promote equal opportunities for children at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
SGI Europe commented on the proposals, highlighting the importance of improving childcare provisions for all children, with a focus on meeting the needs of the socially disadvantaged. The EU Child Guarantee should aim at improving childcare for all, providing every child with basic skills, including digital and, given that women are still predominantly in charge of caring duties, improving childcare will promote gender equality. Read more.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On Tuesday 22 March, SGI Europe submitted its response to the European Commission’s public impact assessment roadmap on the Energy Performance in Buildings Directive (EPBD).
After the adoption of the Renovation Wave in October 2020 and the new climate target of 55% greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction by 2030 agreed by the Commission, there is series of plans to revise and update EU building-related legislative files. This goal requires also the revision of the EPBD to boost the building renovation.
In this context, SGI Europe strongly believes that the “Energy Efficiency First” principle is in general a useful guideline across many sectors, yet it must be subordinate to the decarbonisation and reduction of climate impacts. In fact, the “Energy Efficiency First” principle is not cost-effective and does not lead to prioritising the most important actions for climate. Therefore, SGI Europe recommends that the EPBD and the Energy Efficiency Directive revision should focus on promoting a “climate-efficiency centric approach”, addressing both GHG emissions and energy consumption, and with more ambitious targets on carbon than on energy efficiency.
SGI Europe further pleads to keep the Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) requirements for buildings only as recommendations for Member States. The introduction of MEPS can play an important part in driving the decarbonisation of buildings. The effectiveness of these standards will however depend on technical design and subsequent implementation by Member States. Such requirements would raise significant financial difficulties for Local and Regional Governments and other property owners with a great social impact of tenants having to pay for the renovation through increased rents that will be fatal for a fair renovation transition. Placing higher requirements on public buildings as suggested by the European Commission, would undo a level-playing field between public and private undertakings.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On 23 March, SGI Europe contributed to the European Commission’s public consultation on the revision of the Industrial Emission Directive (EID). You can consult our response here.
In support of the Commission’s path to ensure that the IED is in line with the climate ambition of the EU, SGI Europe has submitted essential recommendations to ensure environmental protection via Control at Source and the Polluter-pays principle, whilst creating a level-playing field between the energy, water and waste-water sector.
In general, SGI Europe is of the opinion that the IED and the corresponding reporting system in the European Pollution Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) Regulation have proven their efficiency and are still fit for purpose. The revision of the IED and E-PRTR should therefore primarily be aimed at a better recognition of water pollutants that are not yet properly addressed. It should also aim to gradually and carefully developing the tried and tested regulatory framework, enabling more efficient approval procedures and facilitating implementation in the Member States.
As stated in our recent position paper on the Zero Pollution Action Plan, SGI Europe deems it crucial to reduce systematically pollution of microplastics and other emerging pollutants in the waste-water. Here, SGI Europe asks to align both the revision of the IED and the drafting of the Zero Pollution Action Plan for a more legally coherent and harmonious adoption.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On 24-25 March, SGI Europe attended the peer review on effective integrated services models and outreach measures for the long-term unemployed and inactive people, organized by the ESF Transnational Cooperation Platform.
The event was built upon learning and good practices from the previous long-term unemployment projects, focusing particularly upon the development of employment service partnership pilots in Lithuania. Within the Lithuanian experience, two schemes involving municipalities and public employment services have been tested for providing a single contact point, offering intensive personalized support and activation services for long-term unemployed.
The Peer Review looked at a piloted case management model that integrated two active labour market policies: employment support policy (the responsibility of the Public Employment Service) and social support policy (the responsibility of the municipalities). Likewise, the one stop career counselling pilot was presented, focusing on more integrated services, bringing together municipalities, training providers, schools, NGOs, chambers of commerce, and employers.
The key issues on which the new ESF+ can assist in the integration of long-term unemployed were addressed during the event, including the quality of education and training systems, access to social protection and the funds for social innovation.
Contact: Stefan Enica
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