Study visits, SGI values and exchange of practices at the heart of side activities of SGI Europe's statutory meetings

Last week, SGI Europe was in Nantes to hold its statutory meetings. Hosted by Nantes-Métropole, the meetings, as well as the side events organised by our members from the area (including EDF and Semitan, Nantes' public transport company), provided a golden opportunity to recall the values at the heart of employers and providers of services of general interest: inclusiveness, green and innovation.

For the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, SGI Europe organised its statutory meetings in-person last week in Nantes (France). Nantes-Métropole, together with SGI Europe, local partners (including La Maison de l'Europe) and members of SGI France (such as EDF), organised several side activities: the conference "European Union: a job for every young person?", a discovery tour of Nantes with Semitan (local public transport company), as well as a visit of the Chinon nuclear plant.

Conference "European Union: a job for every young person?"

Focusing on the role of SGI as employers, the dedicated event, "European Union: a job for every young person?" (organised in the context of the European Year of Youth), provided a unique platform to discuss youth policies and, more specifically, the role of SGIs in supporting inclusiveness and youth employment. Following introductory remarks from Isabelle Maquet (Economic Adviser of the Representative Office of the European Commission in France), SGI Europe's Presidential Team – President Pascal Bolo and Vice-Presidents Milena Angelova, Filippo Brandolini and Ingbert Liebing – presented the challenges, solutions and opportunities from the respective countries, addressing, amongst others, the emergence of new jobs, skills mismatches, the need for adapting training schemes and the role of social dialogue. A dedicated focus was also put on the articulation between the EU and local levels: a second panel presented local initiatives of professional reintegration, including testimonies from young beneficiaries of those programmes.

Discovery tour of Nantes with Semitan

Bridging inclusiveness and green policies, public transport enterprises connect neighbourhoods and support social and economic development while providing the best strategy to decarbonise urban transport. In Nantes, the Semitan (Société d'économie mixte des transports en commun de l'agglomération nantaise), presided over by Pascal Bolo (SGI Europe President) since 2008, is the local public transport operator, with buses, trams and water buses in operation.

Semitan has consistently been recognised as an innovative enterprise: in 1985, Nantes was one of the first cities in France to launch a modern tramway network. It now covers more the 40 kilometres of tram lines, deserving 83 stations across the whole city. More recently, Nantes launched in 2006 a dedicated "Busway" system, a dedicated rapid transit line with high frequency and capacity. 9,3 million trips were recorded on the two existing Busway lines. The Busway was further modernised in 2019, with the arrival of the first e-Busway, a new generation of longer e-bus with ultra-fast charging capacity, allowing recharging every two stops and a non-stop use on the lines.

Pioneering in using electrified tramway services and high-capacity e-buses, Semitan and Nantes have put innovation and creativity to the benefit of high-quality, low-carbon mobility for citizens.

Visit of the EDF nuclear plant of Chinon

On Thursday 9 June, a small delegation of SGI Europe visited the nuclear plant of Chinon (located 130 kilometres east of Nantes), organised by EDF. This visit was a unique opportunity to discover the full potential of nuclear in the decarbonisation of electricity production and its contribution to the energy transition. Employing 2246 employees, producing 6% of the French nuclear power and emitting 12g CO₂/KWh over the entire life cycle of the plant, the Chinon nuclear plant has been, since its construction in the 1960s and its modernisation in the 1980s, one of the vital economic enablers of growth of Western France. Participants in the visit were provided with a full tour, discovering the different phases and steps of the safe production of nuclear power, from nuclear fission to electricity production.

Allowing the discovery of new ways of providing essential services of general interest, such visits are crucial elements of SGI Europe's activities. They enable the exchange of ideas and practices amongst members, support the circulation of innovative ways of providing SGIs, and ensure that services of general interest remain at the front stage of a fair twin transition.