The EU Commission decided to take new action to address skills shortages across the Member States and across sectors. In that context, EUEW together with its peer organization EuropeOn supported its #Skills4Climate campaign to voice electrical wholesalers’ needs in this crucial domain aiming to link human capital or skills considerations with climate action and awareness.
Green and digital skills are in short supply but an essential steppingstone towards climate neutrality. Therefore, the underpinning skills must be brought to the forefront of regulatory attention focusing on climate and energy.
The Commission has decided to launch a timely initiative as part of the revised Skills Agenda: the Pact for Skills, bringing together all actors of selected value chains to address skills shortages. This Pact for Skills will first examine sectors that have been deemed most hit by the recent crises and lockdown measures, including construction sector. As an intermediary linking the upstream and the downstream of the value chain, wholesalers constitute a knowledge hub in the ecosystem and enhance the implementation of innovation and may thus play a role in this Pact for Skills.
On 13th July, EUEW participated in the Skills4Climate e-meeting organized by EuropeOn (European Electrical Contractors' Association) with Cabinet Schmit. The meeting emphasized that the EU has recognized a pan-European shortage of skills in this field, and is committed to take appropriate action, in line with its competence needs. Together with its peer organizations, the EUEW will pursue this discussion with the Commission and relevant stakeholders to define the best way forward before examining the commitments that sectoral and institutional representatives need to make. The latter will be presented during the official launch of the Pact for Skills in Berlin on 10th November 2020.