2013 pdf digital newsletter december 2013

© PDF _ DIGITAL NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2013 • EYE CATCHER: Posting of Workers Directive • EUROPEAN NEWS [Directive/Project] • SECTOR RELATED NEWS • FUTURE EVENTS: AIE Council 2014 Slovenia | SAVE THE DATE(s) 2014 • PUBLICATIONS [Position Papers/Press Release]

01_Eye catcher: Posting of workers Directive: agreement reached by Council but debate with EP not finished! The 28 EU Labour ministers reached an agreement on 9 December on new rules to regulate workers posted from one country to another, but the compromise has been deemed “less ambitious” than what MEPs wanted. The compromise text was agreed on Monday 9 December after 18 months of negotiations on the so‐called posted workers directive, which is supposed to curtail abuses of European Union law that enable companies to move cheaper, foreign workers from one EU country to another. The text aims to improve the implementation of Directive 96/71/EC on the posting of workers, without changing the rules. It should prevent abuses in order to avoid a posted worker to be exploited or deprived of all or part of the wages due to him. Five months before the European elections, the matter is however still highly sensitive. The general approach adopted by the EPSCO Council is a compromise text strongly supported and pushed by France whilst United Kingdom, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia and Malta voted against. It is ultimately Poland who made the difference by supporting France and the proposed text. The Commission very much welcomes the general approach agreed by the Council on new rules to enforce the safeguards against social dumping laid down in the posted workers Directive. Ministers reached an overall compromise agreement on the two outstanding issues of the directive: ‐ national control measures (art.9): these measures will have to be notified to the Commission and service providers will have to be informed through a single national website ‐ joint and several liability in subcontracting chains (art.12): posted workers can hold the contractor, of which the employer is a direct subcontractor, liable, in addition to or in place of the employer regarding any outstanding net remuneration corresponding to the minimum rates of pay Where the Council’s text says that only the direct subcontractor will be held liable, the Parliament’s report wanted responsibility from the entire chain of subcontractors. In addition, the agreement by EU member states proposes that sanctions be mandatory only in the construction sector, whereas the MEPs had agreed on a text making them obligatory in all sectors. While the Parliament rapporteur thinks that there is a “real chance” of finalising the negotiations before the last plenary session in April 2014, the question will keep dividing MEPs along political and © AIE | DIGITAL NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2013 1

national lines until the end of the process. The posted workers directive will be an important issue in the upcoming European elections in May, especially in countries like France, where the presence of foreign low cost workers is often perceived as a threat even though they represent “less than 0.5%” of the workers. NEXT STEPS: • •

14‐17 April: Last EP plenary session before the elections 22‐25 May: European Parliament elections

> Download the Council Press release: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/lsa/139997.pdf

02_European news [Directives / Projects] 02‐01: EU COMMISSION PROPOSES GUIDANCE FOR STATE INTERVENTION IN ELECTRICITY Renewable energy ‐ both wind and solar ‐ was for a long time a new technology that needed state intervention to develop. With technological progress, investment costs in solar panel falling and production expanding, many Member States have started a reform of their support schemes for renewables. The Communication gives guidance on how best to reform existing national support schemes for renewable energy. At the same time, it looks at back‐up capacities for renewable energy: When the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing, electricity must still be produced in sufficient quantities to deliver energy to consumers and keep the electricity grid stable. With the increase of renewable energy production, this becomes a challenge. It is for this reason that in several Member States, discussions take place on how to organize and finance back‐up‐capacities, for example coal and gas power plants which are flexible enough to be turned on and off whenever needed. The EU Communication gives guidance on how these back‐up capacities can be designed in a cost‐efficient way and takes full advantage of the European market. What is new in the communication? It sets out principles for state intervention in two fields: 1. Best practice for national support schemes for renewable energy (mostly solar and wind): • •

•

Support should be limited to what is necessary. Support schemes should respond to falling production costs. As technologies mature and investment costs fall ‐ solar panels for example cost only a fraction of what they have cost ten years ago ‐ supported technologies should be gradually exposed to market prices and eventually support must be fully remove. Unannounced or retroactive changes to the support schemes must be avoided. Investors' legitimate expectations concerning the returns on existing investments must be respected.

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Member States should better coordinate their renewable energy policies. Renewables should be produced where the sun shines most or the winds are the strongest.

2. Principles for back‐up capacities for renewable energy (mostly fossil fuels, such as gas and coal fired power plants): • • •

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Before deciding on capacity mechanisms, governments should first analyse the causes for inadequate generation. Secondly, they should remove any distortions that may in the first place prevent the market from delivering the right incentives for investment in generation capacity. Such causes can be: regulated prices, high subsidies for renewable energy. Governments should also ensure that renewable electricity producers react to market signals and promote flexibility on the demand side, for example by promoting different tariffs to consumers and therefore giving an incentive to use electricity at other times than peak times ("smart grids" and "smart metering"). Any back‐up capacity mechanism should not be designed having only the national market in mind but the European perspective. It should not exclude existing capacity only because it lies across a national border.

What impacts have the proposed measures on Member States? The Communication published today is not a legally binding act. However, it does set out the main principles which the Commission will apply when assessing state interventions relating to renewable support schemes or capacity mechanisms. The principles set out in the Communication will guide the future enforcement of EU state aid rules and future proposals for EU energy legislation. More information: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/gas_electricity/internal_market_en.htm

02‐02 EURELECTRIC CALLS ON EU ENERGY MINISTERS TO FULFIL PROMISE OF FUNCTIONING RETAIL MARKETS 2030 Energy ministers met on 12 December to prepare talks on energy prices and their impact on EU households and businesses, due to be discussed by European leaders in February next year. The European electricity industry addressed a letter to the EU Energy Ministers stressing that: •

The electricity industry cannot control certain cost drivers, for example taxes, levies, government policies to support specific generation resources or grid charges;

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A rigorous and transparent analysis is needed on what makes up an electricity bill, including a full breakdown of the different cost components

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The recovery of public policy costs through bills pushes financial liabilities on companies in case of non‐payment, unnecessarily raising cost for customers;

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Price regulation poses a serious obstacle to well‐functioning and innovative retail markets that could better meet customers' needs.

Industry, politicians, regulators and consumer groups have a joint responsibility to spell out why electricity bills are rising to further customers' awareness so that they can make well informed choices,' the letter reads. Source: EURELECTRIC Web News Article

03_ Sector related news 03‐01 FRANCE: OBLIGATION FOR TERTIARY BUILDING OWNERS TO RENOVATE End of September 2013, the new French government reaffirmed its previous ambitions to massively increase building renovation rates, with the overall goal to refurbish 500,000 buildings per year by 2017. The French law Grenelle 2 includes a provision obliging public and private tertiary building owners to undertake an energy refurbishment within 8 years, starting in January 2012. However the decree that should describe the nature, modalities of the works to be undertaken and the energy performance to be achieved, is still to be published. Meanwhile the Plan for Sustainable Buildings proposes the public and private market players to engage and sign a ‘Charter’. The French AIE member associations regret however that at the very last minute, primary energy was added as calculation unit in the text instead of the originally foreseen final energy. In France the primary energy conversion factor is 2,58! To support the French debate around renovation roadmaps, a report published by the Building Performance institute for Europe on successful building renovation programmes has recently been published, as an overview of good practices in Europe and around the globe. Download the report (available in English and French)

03‐02 Media Release GERMANY: NEW CINEMA SPOT OF E‐TRADE IS AWARDED WITH THE "MASTER OF EXCELLENCE"PRICE E‐Zubis win their first „Oscar“ The public work of the year of ArGe media in ZVEH ends with a big bang: The new e‐Zubis cinema spot, which the E‐Craft wants to win young people for training in crafts with, received an award of excellence. With the Corporate Media Festival comes the best of the best from Europe every year. In addition to renowned companies such as Siemens, BMW, MAN and Bayer, the E‐Zubis could place the E‐craft spot at the top and was awarded the coveted "Master of Excellence".

Caption: The E‐Zubis cinema spot belongs to the European top: Director Klaus Naumann (l.), Gabi Schermuly‐Wunderlich, Managing Director at ArGe Medien inZVEH (M.) and Rolf Meurer, President ArGe Medien in ZVEH (r.) take the price in Ludwigsburg of Rolf G. Lehmann, Media report, (2.v.l.) and Andreas Marx, Federation of German film and audiovisual producers. Photo: ArGe Medien in ZVEH/Pauli

But that's not all: Director Klaus Naumann, Munich, received even by the jury the price for best director. Therefore this E‐Zubis spot was during the award ceremony, that took place on the 6 December 2013 at the Film Academy in Ludwigsburg, the double winner of the evening. "This award shows that the spot has hit the bull's‐eye both in content as well as in the execution," says Gabi Schermuly Wunderlich, new Managing Director of ArGe media in ZVEH. Naumann Film stayed ‐ after a hard‐fought bidding ‐ with the idea of an E‐Zubis Task Force in Hollywood style to save a football game. "By opting for Naumann film we were dead right," explains Rolf Meurer, Chairman of the ArGe media in ZVEH and ZVEH Vice President: "Who wants to score in the cinema, must be able to compete with the big productions from Hollywood. I hope that many guilds and companies now jump on the train and deploy a successful spot for cinema advertising. " Filmmaker Klaus Naumann also appeared happy and content: "I have never received the award for the best director at this prestigious festival. This proves that not always the highest budget, but the best performance wins. "After all, the E‐Zubis had to prove spot against high 6‐figure production budget. This obviously succeeded ArGe media in ZVEH. For those who have not yet looked at the remarkable spot: http://youtu.be/lDOZU0th‐ so For bookings of spots to guilds and companies contact: Heine film Cinema GmbH & Co. KG, Irene Beutgen, E‐Mail: irene.beutgen@heinefilm.de

03‐03 AIE LATEST MEMBERS ISSUES FOR 2013 The AIE General Secretaries and PCC held their last meetings of the year and discussed the following policy issues: the adoption of the public procurement Directive, state‐of‐play of the posting of workers Directive, the Eco‐design & Labelling Directive and study on power cables. Further to an interesting presentation by an EU official of the Build UP skills initiative, the AIE will launch in January an internal survey on the training and skills perspectives in the sector and explore new ways/challenges of learning. Equally during these two days and according to the AIE President’s announcement at the Council of Delegates in September, the AIE invited a dozen of European associations in the electrical sector for a stakeholders meeting regarding the use of the primary energy conversion factor. During this very fruitful meeting the participants shared experiences, expressed their views and decided to have a follow‐up meeting Mid January. Finally the General Assembly of the CEETB decided on 28 November 2014 upon the voluntary liquidation of CEETB and consequently appointed the liquidators for the administrative procedure.

04_ Future events http://www.aie.eu/aie/page/Events Please don’t forget to take a look on the AIE website for future AIE meetings in 2013.

04‐01 NEXT COUNCIL OF DELEGATES – PORTOROZ – SLOVENIA 11‐14 SEPTEMBER 2014 From left to right: General Secretary EZS (Electrotechnical Association of Slovenia) Mr Rudi Zorko, President Mr Andrej Počivavšek, Electro section operations – President of the Chamber of Craft and small Business of Slovenia (OSZ), Mrs Valentina Papez, secretariat OSZ and AIE GS Mrs Evelyne Schellekens.

This last 5th to 6th of December, AIE General Secretary Evelyne Schellekens visited our Slovenian colleagues of the Chamber of Craft and small Business of Slovenia (OZS) and the Electrotechnical Association of Slovenia (ESZ). Mr Rudi Zorko, President Mr Andrej Počivavšek, Electro section operations – President of the Chamber of Craft and small Business of Slovenia (OSZ) and Mrs Valentina Papez, secretariat OSZ invited the AIE General Secretary to visit the enchanting coast line of Portorož. The next Council of Delegates will be warmly hosted by Slovenia from the 11th till the 14th of September 2014. We already give you a glance at some mighty views that you will get while visiting our Council of Delegates next autumn when temperatures in Portorož can still be in the 20 to 25 degrees… ☺

04‐02 SAVE THE DATE(S) 2014: > Light and Building 2014 | Frankfurt – 30.3 – .4.2014

Light+Building is the world’s biggest trade fair for lighting and building‐services technology and presents solutions that cut the energy consumption of a building at the same time as increasing the level of comfort. At the fair, everything is represented, from LED technology, via photovoltaic and electro‐mobility, to

intelligent electricity usages with smart metering and smart grids. Thanks to the combination of lighting and networked building‐services technology, the companies can present an integrated spectrum of products and services that make a decisive contribution to exploiting the energy‐saving potential of buildings to the full. The Policy Coordination Committee (PCC) as well as the Technical Task Force (TTF) will meet on the 1st of April within the fair of Light and Building in Frankfurt. The main theme at Light+Building is Energy Efficiency. > More info: http://light‐building.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/besucher/willkommen.html

> EuroSkills 2014 Lille | France – 2‐4.10.2014 Preparations have started in the French city of Lille for the EuroSkills 2014 competition scheduled to take place from 2 to 4 October 2014! More info on: http://www.euroskills.org The AIE delegates unanimously approved during the EU Installers Summit at their statutory meeting to join WorldSkills Europe [WSE] as ‘associate member’ and to integrate the AIE CYE in the WorldSkills Europe competition framework. Contact the AIE Secretariat (info@aie.eu) or the WorldSkills Europe secretariat General Secretary Thom ter Stege at (terstege@euroskills.org) should you wish contact details on your national Skills team.

> More event news? Double check: Other European events

05_ Publications – check new AIE and related publications at our library on ISSUU In November this year two internal AIE publications ‘AIE Directory and AIE Technical Guideline’ were distributed to the General Secretaries and the Policy Coordination Committee. Both documents can be downloaded via the Members Only page.

But …

European Association of Electrical Contractors “ELECTRICITY SURROUNDS US – TOUCHES EVERY ONE OF US, EVERY DAY, EVERYWHERE. Who we are: The AIE – the European Association of electrical contracting companies - represents through its 20 national member associations about 175,000 specialist contracting companies employing about 1,000,000 workers in the EU-countries and beyond. The AIE represents companies from all sizes, the big majors and a majority of small and medium size enterprises [SME]. AIE member companies have an in-depth knowledge and high-quality expert skills to carry out all kind of electrical engineering and infrastructure works [high, medium and low voltage]. The overall turnover of the sector is approximately 75 billion Euros. Monitoring the EU agenda/Directives relevant for the electrical sector, the AIE points out the key strategies and main priorities for the modern electrical contractor. With the increasing complexity of technical installations, the private consumer and house owners are becoming more and more dependent on the knowledge and creativity of the electrical contractor. He is an expert adviser who is able to explain to the client the possibilities and advantages of new technology in a technical and environmental way. Kindly visit our website: www.aie.eu or contact us at info@aie.eu.

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