9 July 2021
On 6 July, SGI Europe and its member, the European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE) organised the kick-off conference of the project ‘Green Skills in VET’, co-financed by the European Commission.
Opening the conference, Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Affairs, emphasised the importance of Green Jobs and skills in the ongoing transition: “The green transition could create 1,2 million jobs in the EU by 2030. But people need to acquire Green Skills for this to happen, and life-long learning is an absolute must. This project is very timely. We are in a big transformation of our economy and society, and in this transformation SGIs and VET providers are of essence.”
In her opening remarks, Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, emphasised that “We have as employers the responsibility to make the Green Deal a reality. We represent services that by definition must be green. With this project, we will anticipate current and future needs for green skills and jobs, raise awareness of green skills needs and single out mismatches.”
Likewise, in the introduction part, Daniel Wisniewski, EFEE General Secretary, said “The transition will require a change in the mindset of every individual, to continue to invest in his upskilling, linked with the changing needs of the labour market. The VET sector will play an important role in the green transition to prepare the EU workforce to embrace the new jobs and opportunities.”
The first panel of the conference focused on the green skills’ provision state of play. Emmanuele Massagli and Margherita Roiatti, researchers from the Association of International and Comparative Studies in the field of labour law and industrial relations (ADAPT) presented the preliminary findings of the initial survey of the project. Afterwards, Jean-Michel Romann, Social Advisor at the French Electricity Union, and Dominique Majoor, member in the executive board of the Koning Willem I College, brought technical expertise from the ground, presenting data and best practices.
The second panel of the conference underlined the importance of reinforcing the institutional partnership for making the ‘green skills’ a reality with Mara Brugia, Deputy Director CEDEFOP, Chiara Riondino, Head of the VET, Apprenticeships and Adult Learning Unit, DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion, European Commission, Spiros Protopsaltis, Vice-Chair, PES Network, and Ludovic Voet, Confederal Secretary, ETUC.
The recording of the Kick-off Conference can be accessed here.
Contact: Stefan Enica
On 8 and 9 July 2021, SGI Europe participated in the informal EPSCO, gathering EU Ministers of Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Protection, in Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia. On this occasion, Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary participated in the session on “Towards more resilient labour markets” and “Towards more inclusive labour markets”.
During these two days of discussions, the Slovenian presidency highlighted to the employment and social policy ministers of the 27 that the COVID-19 crisis has compounded longer-standing structural challenges facing labour markets and policy makers across Europe. Digitalisation, globalisation, demographic ageing and the greening of the economy are rapidly changing the world of work.
The presidency also structured the debates on the dynamics of transitions over the lifecycle which are also changing as people are living and working longer than ever before. SGI Europe insisted, on this occasion, on the necessity to improve the existing articulations between education/training programmes and the labour market. She emphasised the increasing skills shortages experienced by many of SGI sectors in essential utilities facing the transition such as transport, waste management, water, energy or housing.
She also called for the recovery effort to materialise the activation of education and training systems for the objective of the green transition. She finally recalled that SGI Europe had been calling for years for the EU institutions and Member States to operate a change in paradigm, with recruitment and investment in these services no longer just seen as a cost but also as productive long-term investments.
Contact: Guillaume Afellat
On 6 July, the European Commission adopted its Sustainable Finance Package, comprising the Strategy for Financing the Transition to a Sustainable Economy, the proposal for a Regulation on European Green Bonds and the Delegated Act on Article 8 of the Taxonomy Regulation.
With this package, the Commission intends to increase its level of ambition on sustainable finance via the Strategy for Financing the Transition to a Sustainable Economy and enforce the obligation rules for reporting on sustainable activities via the Delegated Act on article 8 of the EU Taxonomy. The proposal for a new EU Green Bonds Standard should add another tool to boost sustainable finance.
SGI Europe welcomes in general the publication of the three proposals, which all aim at developing sustainable finance. In particular, the EU Green Bond Standard should become a central element to increase the appeal and the transparency surrounding green investments.
The exclusion of non-listed SMEs, including many local public services enterprises, from the scope of the Article 8 Delegated Act is a positive development. However, SGI Europe fears significant burdens and an unrealistic proposed timeframe for reporting (from 1 January 2022 for activities of 2021), considering that the complete legal framework for the EU Taxonomy is not yet in place. SGI Europe also regrets that the Delegated Act requires enterprises to report on the taxonomy-alignment of all economic activities for all six environmental objectives.
You can consult our policy recommendations on Delegated Act on Disclosure Obligations in the Taxonomy Regulation on Article 8 here.
Contact: Henriette Gleau
On Thursday 8 July, during the plenary of the European Parliament, MEPs adopted a report on the review of the macroeconomic legislative framework for a better impact on Europe’s real economy and improved transparency of decision-making and democratic accountability.
The text, adopted with 461 votes to 94 and 133 abstentions, calls for a review of the EU economic governance framework before the deactivation of the General Escape Clause of the Stability and Growth Pact in 2023.
Activated in March 2020, the General Escape Clause has in fact allowed Member States to adequately counter the COVID-19 crisis, whilst departing from the budgetary requirements that would normally apply under the European fiscal framework.
The report put forward by MEP Margarida Marques (S&D, Portugal) stresses that not only the review of the macroeconomic framework must not undermine the economic recovery by prematurely withdrawing sufficient fiscal support, but that it should also strengthen a sustainable, inclusive, green and digital recovery by taking into account different contexts across Member States and effectively counteract macroeconomic imbalances.
MEPs also recalled that the European Semester is a well-established framework to coordinate the budgetary, economic, social and employment policies across the European Union, supporting the EU’s long-standing goals of sustainable growth and sustainable public finances.
Moreover, MEPs expressed concern about the lack of national ownership, which remain one of the Semester main weaknesses, and call on the Parliament to be more involved in its process.
Against this backdrop, SGI Europe believes the Conference on the Future of Europe will provide the opportunity to involve citizens and stakeholders more actively in the EU policy-making process and also create a possible space calling for concrete reforms in the way the EU manages and coordinate its own economies.
Contact: Antonio Astolfi
Since in 2020 and the Covid-19 outbreak, EU tourism suffered 70% decrease in revenues and up to 11 million jobs were put at risk. Even without the unfortunate developments in the last year, tourism would still be at a crossroads, since it is a sector that benefits the most from the twin transition. Therefore, structural changes are indeed needed, and the recovery should be an opportunity to address the challenges and make tourism more resilient, green and sustainable.
The aim of the consultation is to launch a co-creation process. The survey questions revolve around the key dimensions of Resilience, Sustainability and Digital Innovation and call for proposing concrete actions, which should reflect the scenarios set out in the Commission Staff Working Document Scenarios towards co-creation of transition pathway for tourism for a more resilient, innovative and sustainable ecosystem - SWD(2021) 164 final.
The public consultation is open for feedback until 15 September 2021. Based on the inputs of the consultation, the Commission lead further meetings and workshops with dedicated stakeholders.
SGI Europe welcomes the opportunity to respond to the public consultation and thus shape the policy regarding tourism, since certain types of tourism can indeed be deemed as SG(E)I and addressed to the interest of society as a whole.
Contact: Manca Pocivavsek
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