5 May 2023
On 4 May 2023, Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, and Robert Johansson, member of SGI Europe Sweden's board and the negotiating delegation of the Swedish Association of Localities and Regions (SALAR), joined the informal meeting of employment and social policy ministers (informal EPSCO) held in Stockholm. The informal EPSCO was the opportunity for Social Affairs Ministers to discuss with social partners shortages related to skills and labour and the evolution of social protection systems in light of demographic change and ageing.
During the meeting, Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, stated that labour and skills shortages remain a key concern for employers of services of general interest. Skills obsolescence, in particular, endangers today’s technological transition necessary to adapt to climate change. She recalled that effective investments and reforms that support the development of equitable and sustainable education systems should become key priorities in every Member State.
Regarding social protection systems in the light of demographic ageing, Valeria Ronzitti stated that reinforcing EU social protection systems is crucial to address the social consequences of the cost-of-living crisis and prepare for the still-to-come impact of demographic ageing. Developing active ageing policies at the workplace level and improving the availability, accessibility and overall quality of long-term care services remain essential. She called for member states to step up and devise new measures that respond to the issues identified in the Council Recommendation on access to long-term care services.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
The informal EPSCO meeting, held in Stockholm on the 4 May 2023, was the occasion for Valeria Ronzitti to meet Luka Mesec, Slovenian Minister for Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. This bilateral meeting gave the occasion to Ms Ronzitti and Mr Mesec to follow up on discussions had during the last informal EPSCO meeting on 8 December 2022, including on social dialogue at the national level in Slovenia as well as the place of Slovenian employers of services of general interest in the EU cross-industry social dialogue.
Mrs Ronzitti also exchanged bilaterally with Miguel Fontes, Portuguese Secretary of State for Labour. They discussed the upcoming Porto Social Forum, which will take place on the 27 May 2023, as a direct follow-up of the Porto Social Summit held in 2021.
The Porto Social Forum will be an opportunity to take stock of the commitments made two years ago in Porto and to discuss the European Year of Skills as a driver for the twin transitions and The European Social model as a geopolitical lever. SGI Europe and its Secretary General Valeria Ronzitti will participate in this key event to strengthen the social European Union.
Contact: Benoît Cassorla
On 3 May, SGI Europe submitted its feedback to the European Commission’s public consultation on the new set of EU Taxonomy criteria covering both climate adaptation and mitigation, the proposals to amend the Disclosure Delegated Act and the second part with the four environmental categories (sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, transition to a circular economy, prevention and reduction of environmental pollution and protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems. The proposed criteria are based on the Platform for Sustainable Finance recommendations published in March 2022, in which SGI Europe was active.
SGI Europe supports the continuation of the EU Taxonomy and believes that the concept of the sustainable finance mechanism and the Taxonomy Regulations can act as an enabling tool to realise the objectives set by the EU Green Deal. Consequently, SGI Europe underlined that the criteria must be thoroughly assessed and reflect the general EU principles of efficiency, proportionality, and subsidiarity. SGI Europe also stresses the importance of ensuring planning security and setting criteria on existing regulatory requirements. It calls for avoiding establishing thresholds or parameters yet to be defined in EU legislation. Furthermore, SGI Europe underlined to the Commission its regret to see a continuous approach to exclude recovery operations that involve incineration of hazardous or non-hazardous waste from the scope despite its beneficial circular economy features.
Finally, SGI Europe wishes further to consider postal services’ role in the circular economy. It recommends categorising the postal services as its own criteria to stimulate a sustainable service of general interest for second-hand goods.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On 3 May, the opinion of the Committee of Regions on “creating an enabling environment for the social economy — the local and regional perspective” was published in the Official Journal of the EU. You can access it here.
The Opinion was drafted under the rapporteurship of Ricardo Rio (PT/EPP), Mayor of Braga. Its main takeaways are the acknowledgement of the need to tackle the diversity of definitions and legal frameworks to improve obtaining new data on the social economy and its contribution to the economy, the urge to simplify support systems and reduce administrative burden, the need for creating supportive legal frameworks and policies on financing, taxation and public procurement.
Since the social economy has a cross-sectoral nature, and its mission is often close to services of general (economic) interest – and very often even overlap, the Opinion urges national, regional and local authorities to better tap into the potential of current rules on the specific provisions for services of general economic interest (SGEI) to make full use of the possibility to recognise social economy entities carrying out an economic activity as an SGEI where relevant.
SGI Europe supports this as the social economy and services of general (economic) interest are complementary and have the potential to reinforce each other. SGI Europe is currently working on the Opinion on social economy in the context of the Fit for Future platform.
Contact: Manca Pocivavsek
HOSPEEM, the European Hospital and Healthcare Employers’ Association and sectoral federation member of SGI Europe is seeking a part-time Project and Policy Officer for its secretariat in Brussels to start as soon as possible. The Project and Policy Officer will work as an integral part of the HOSPEEM Secretariat in Brussels, providing support to the Board and the Daily Manager, as well as the Secretariat staff and HOSPEEM Members, to represent the interests of European hospital employers.
The deadline to apply is on 9 May 2023. You can find more information on the job description.
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