EuropeOn members met in Dublin in May for their quarterly meetings of the Board and the General Secretaries of national associations. Since Covid, we adopted a more flexible approach to meetings, with half of them online and the rest held more traditionally.
As usual, such meetings were the perfect occasion for members to update their counterparts on current domestic affairs. Many members provided some up-to-date market trends, with variations from one country to the next, although many members observe a slow down of activity in the construction (and especially in the residential) sector, generally offset by other sector such as infrastructure or electrification.
The growing relevance of ESG reporting
The topic of ESG (environmental, social and governance) reporting was discussed. ESG concerns are growing in the corporate world and they are increasingly considered under EU law. Indeed, in December 2022, the EU adopted a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive which requires large companies and listed companies to regularly publish reports on the social and environmental risks they face, and on how their activities impact both people and the environment. While electrical contracting companies are mostly SMEs, they are directly interested in two ways: first, as suppliers to larger companies it is expected that the latter will in turn require from them to abide by some similar principles; second, electrical contractors can concretely help big companies reduce their environmental impact, through electrification, energy management, use of recycled products, and so on. However, any requirement passed onto electrical contractors can only be handled successfully if we get a better and faster access to energy, building and product data.
Get ready for the 2023 Installers’ Summit!
Another important discussion was the preparation of our next Installers’ Summit, which will take place in Brussels on 9-10 November. We came to Dublin upon invitation of Eamon McGrattan, the President of GCP Europe, representing mechanical/HVAC installers across Europe, who will co-organise the Summit with us.
Members approved the dual theme for this year’s public conference: Skills and artificial intelligence. In the context of the European Year of Skills, it is an unmissable opportunity to cast a light on the need to promote further technical education and careers which are key for the green and digital transition to succeed, in particular in the electrical and mechanical sectors.
Artificial intelligence is the talk of the town. Each and every one of us has been using AI for years without even noticing, but the sudden surge of sophisticated large language models such as ChatGPT and Midjourney is promising disruptions in the way we live and work. This is why the installation sector must assess the situation and identify the related opportunities (and threats?) both in our internal ways of working and in the services we can offer to customers.
More information about the Installers’ Summit will be available in the weeks to come. If interested, you can already contact us at: info@europe-on.org
