FIEC at World Workplace Europe 2019

 

World Workplace Europe meets Facility for Future will take place in Amsterdam on 20-22 March.  FIEC’s Director of Technical and Environmental Affairs, Sue Arundale, will participate in a panel discussion with other speakers, including a representative of the European Commission directorate for energy (DG ENER). The discussion will focus on the 2050 Climate Strategy and digitalisation.

 

   Read more   

SKILLCO project : Conference on 10/4/2019

 

In many Member States, construction companies are facing difficulties in finding workers with the right skills. The stakeholders of the construction sector, in cooperation with training centres, are therefore putting a lot of effort into identifying the skills required and in adapting training schemes accordingly, taking into account, amongst other things, the structure of the sector which is mainly composed of SMEs.

Within this framework the project SKILLCO (“Skills sector alliances for transfer of knowledge and skills of VET workforce in construction“), co-funded by the ERASMUS+ programme, was launched in 2016 and will run until the end of 2019. The project, covering Germany, Hungary and Slovenia, is led by the employers’ organisation GZS (SI) and FIEC is one of the participating partners. Further information about the project can be found on the dedicated website : www.skillco.eu

 

Several outcomes of the project (learning units, learning materials, mobile app for teachers, pupils, company mentors and workers) related to sectoral literacy and numeracy, occupational safety and health (OSH) and “green” skills are almost finalised and they will be presented and discussed during a conference that will take place on 10th  April 2019 in Brussels.

 

Should you be interested in attending this conference, please click on the button below.

 

   Read more   

Connecting Europe Facility: partial political agreement

On the 7th of March, the representatives of the European Parliament and the Romanian Presidency of the Council came to a political agreement regarding the revision of the regulation establishing the Connecting Europe Facility for 2021-2027.

This is, however, only a partial agreement as the budgetary aspects are subject to an overall agreement on the EU’s post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework, which is still under negotiation. Questions relating to third countries and reciprocity aspects will also be negotiated at a later stage.

FIEC advocates for a strong CEF budget in order to respond to the needs, as supported by the European Parliament.

The good news is that co-financing rates for transport projects will be increased. They could reach up to 50% for cross-border projects or actions to support interoperability involving rail and inland waterway transport. More generally, the areas covered by the regulation will be eligible for a 5% increase in the co-financing rate for cross-border projects managed by a joint undertaking. Similarly, a higher co-financing rate could be granted for projects creating synergies in at least two of the three areas covered by the regulation (transport, energy, digital).

Some more good news is that, on military mobility, the parties agreed that money not used for military mobility should remain in the CEF under the transport component. In addition, the sums allocated to military mobility should only be used for both civil and military uses on the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). This agreement has to now be formally approved by both the European Parliament and the Council.

   Read more