A new year has just begun. Therefore, we have decided to rewind the tape and look back on our main 2023 achievements.
We welcomed 2 new members
EuropeOn brings together national associations of electrical contractors. In 2023, we welcomed 2 new countries: Spain and Iceland, respectively represented by FENIE and SART. We are glad to share best practice and experience from an increasing number of perspectives and hope to grow even further in 2024.g Stay tuned!
We brought the Installers’ Summit to the European Parliament
The Installers’ Summit, our biggest event of the year, co-organised with GCP Europe, took place in Brussels from 8 to 10 November. For this edition, we proudly held our conference in the European Parliament, with the support of MEP Sylvie Brunet.
The conference consisted of two sessions: “Skills” and “Artificial Intelligence“. It started with a keynote speech by MEP Ilana Cicurel and saw the contributions of several high-profile panellists.
David Goodhart, journalist and author of the essay Head, Hand, Heart: The Struggle for Dignity and Status in the 21st Century, was the first speaker of our skills session. He was followed by skills experts from national associations of electrical and/or mechanical contractors.
The session on Artificial Intelligence saw the participation of Martin Ulbricht, Senior Expert in the Commission’s Unit for Artificial Intelligence Policy Development and Coordination, Thierry Geerts, Country Director of Google Belgium and author of Homo Digitalis: how digitalisation is making us more human, Josh Bone, Director of ELECTRI International (USA), Troels Blicher Danielsen, Administrative Director at Tekniq Arbejdsgiverne (Denmark) and Luc Vercruyssen from KNX Association.
**Discover the aftermovie of the 2023 Installers’ Summit**
We met the Energy Commissioner with our colleagues of the Electrification Alliance
On 23 October, the Electrification Alliance presented to Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson its new manifesto, which calls for a 35% electrification target by 2030 (full document). Our General Secretary insisted on the labour and skills needs for a successful deployment of electrified solutions across Europe. On the same occasion, we visited the Audi factory in Brussels, a worldwide producer of the firm’s electric vehicles. This manufacturing plant aims to reach CO₂-neutrality by using green energy and producing the latter autonomously with cutting-edge solutions.
We worked with the negotiators of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD)
On 2 February, our members met with key negotiators of the EPBD file: MEP Ciaran Cuffe, co-rapporteur of the EPBD, the European Commission’s Energy Directorate and the Permanent Representations of Denmark and Luxembourg to the EU. This was the perfect opportunity to discuss how our sector can contribute to the decarbonisation of buildings.
We held our first Value Chain Dialogue
In February, EuropeOn welcomed 5 European associations involved in the energy transition: The European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), Solar Power Europe, Eurelectric, GCP Europe and the European Union of Electrical Wholesalers (EUEW). This productive Value Chain Dialogue resulted in a joint statement highlighting consensus on the need to act on the workforce and skills dimension of the energy transition.
We brainstormed with our members on concrete solutions for skills and worker shortages
In April, EuropeOn hosted in Brussels a special working group with its skills experts to talk about solutions to skills and workforce shortages.
Throughout the year, we also worked on the EU-funded project “EQF-elec” with Installatörsföretagen (Sweden), Volta vzw (Belgium) and Stichting ISSO (Netherlands). This project, led by the Luxembourgish Centre de Compétences, aims to enable better comparability between European education systems connected to the electricity sector and allow for more cross-border movement of electrical professionals.
Last June, we published with the Electrification Alliance a “Skills Brief” (full document). The report underlines how the transition to clean and renewable energy systems can bring new jobs and boost the EU’s economy, also at the local level. Additionally, it points out that several job profiles related to the electricity sector, for instance, electrical contractors, are and will be increasingly in demand and it provides the EU and Member States with some recommendations for a smooth energy transition.
