31 January 2025
On Wednesday 29 January, the European Commission published its Competitiveness Compass. The Compass is a communication outlining the Commission’s ambitions under the new mandate, centring around increasing the EU’s economic competitiveness. Additionally, it lists 47 proposals that are scheduled for publication in 2025 or 2026.
The Competitiveness Compass focused on three pillars:
The Compass sets out the strategic approach to achieving these three objectives while providing a list of flagship initiatives for each. These initiatives are the concrete proposals that the Commission will put out in the coming two years to work towards the completion of the pillars.
These pillars and proposals are complemented by a set of horizontal enablers which are seen as the cross-sectoral foundation of competitiveness. These enablers are simplification, lowering barriers to the Single Market, financing competitiveness, promoting skills and quality jobs and better coordination of policies at EU and national level.
Following the publication, SGI Europe highlighted that the Competitiveness Compass cannot become a missed opportunity to recognise SGIs as direct actors of competitiveness, contributing to delivering long-term stability, innovation, and social cohesion.
Contact: Ruben Sansom
On 27 January 2025, the European Commission organised a social partners' dedicated hearing on the future "roadmap for women’s rights”.
On this occasion, SGI Europe advocated for the Commission to include in the roadmap the critical role of social partners at the EU and national level to create equality in the labour market, the objective to tackle labour market segregation through improving working conditions in female-dominated sectors through investment and training, the goal to address gender stereotypes in education and the promotion of gender mainstreaming in budgeting policies.
Expected for publication on 8 March 2025, the Roadmap for Women’s Rights should deliver on the commitment made by President von der Leyen in the Political Guidelines for the next European Commission 2024−2029, where this initiative was announced for International Women’s Day 2025. The Roadmap plans to provide an EU-level policy framework and set out the new Commission's long-term vision on how to step up efforts and ensure consistent respect and protection of women’s rights across the EU. It will be followed up with concrete measures set out in the new Gender Equality Strategy post-2025, working towards the objectives set out in the Roadmap.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On 30 January, SGI Europe participated in the Committee of the Regions' discussion on the draft opinion paper “More than Funding: Local and Regional Authorities Mobilising Public and Private Resources for an Effective Follow-up on the Clean Transition Dialogues”. The opinion is being developed by rapporteur Åsa Ågren Wikström (SE/EPP), Regional Councillor of Västerbotten.
The opinion focuses on accelerating the green transition at the local and regional levels, highlighting the role of collaboration between authorities, industry, and the private sector in achieving climate neutrality. It also calls for continued follow-up on the European Commission’s Clean Transition Dialogues Communication.
In its recommendations, SGI Europe emphasised the need for stronger cooperation between SGIs and local/regional authorities to ensure the success of the clean energy transition. It also stressed that legislation with local or regional impact must adopt a bottom-up approach, considering local, regional, and national specifics.
SGI Europe further urged involving EU social partners in the Clean Transition Dialogues to address workforce challenges and the technical needs of the climate and energy transition. Engaging social partners early is vital for the successful implementation of the EU Green Deal and the FitFor55 Package.
Finally, SGI Europe called for a flexible, decentralised, and technology-neutral EU energy and climate policy framework. This approach allows for all renewable and low-carbon energy solutions to be considered, empowering local authorities and businesses to tackle emissions effectively and drive change at the grassroots level.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
The A.C.C.E.S. project partners are pleased to invite you to two interactive workshops dedicated to the energy and water sectors, taking place on 18 February 2025 in Brussels, with the possibility of online participation. These workshops will bring together key stakeholders, experts, and policymakers to discuss sector challenges, share best practices, and collaborate on solutions.
Energy Workshop (9:00 – 12:30)
Register here to secure your place.
Water Workshop (12:30 – 17:00)
Register here to secure your place.
All participants will receive a networking lunch and accommodation and travel expenses will be reimbursed. This is an opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions, gain insights from leading experts, and contribute to shaping policy recommendations.
Contact: Cecilia Martin
On Monday 27 January 2025, the European Parliament Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) discussed the draft report and amendments to the European Semester for Economic Policy Coordination: employment and Social Priorities for 2025. The rapporteur underlined that the EU’s new governance framework applies for the first time to the European Semester cycle, and the new criteria access the risks of upward social convergence in the member states. The draft report highlights several priority issues: affordable housing, demographic change, ageing societies, falling birthrates, skills shortages, investment in education and training, youth unemployment, mental health pandemic, support for vulnerable groups, etc.
SGI Europe welcomes this critical discussion on the EU semester. As highlighted in the EU Social Partners Joint Declaration, the involvement of Social partners in the EU Semester and the Economic Governance is key in ensuring a well-functioning EU Semester that supports social partners and provides a window in which national social partners can raise their concerns over the economy's future and the performance and effectiveness of social systems.
In a bilateral meeting with Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Implementation and Simplification, on Thursday 16 January, SGI Europe highlighted this need to develop a better mechanism of consultation of EU-level social partners to ensure that the quality of the mandatory consultations of national social partners by their respective governments can be monitored. But also asked to improve the communication between DG ECOFIN and the EU social partners.
Contact: Benoît Cassorla
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