The EESC issues between 160 and 190 opinions and information reports a year.
It also organises several annual initiatives and events with a focus on civil society and citizens’ participation such as the Civil Society Prize, the Civil Society Days, the Your Europe, Your Say youth plenary and the ECI Day.
Here you can find news and information about the EESC'swork, including its social media accounts, the EESC Info newsletter, photo galleries and videos.
The EESC brings together representatives from all areas of organised civil society, who give their independent advice on EU policies and legislation. The EESC's326 Members are organised into three groups: Employers, Workers and Various Interests.
The EESC has six sections, specialising in concrete topics of relevance to the citizens of the European Union, ranging from social to economic affairs, energy, environment, external relations or the internal market.
Vulnerable groups pay a proportionally higher price of the consequences of climate change although they contribute less to it. In this opinion, the EESC calls for the development of a comprehensive EU political and social strategy to be able to respond proactively to climate emergency, stressing on the social aspects of the just transition. To do so, the EESC recommends, among other measures, the EU Social Climate Fund and the EU Climate Adjustment Fund be supplemented with additional instruments.
EESC opinion: The climate crisis and its effect on vulnerable groups
The Toy Safety Directive sets out the safety requirements that toys must meet before they can be marketed in the EU. This initiative aims to protect children better against risks in toys, particularly from chemicals. It builds on work such as the chemicals strategy for sustainability, and on an evaluation of the current toy safety rules completed in 2020. At the same time, it aims to strengthen the Single Market for toys.
EESC opinion: Revision of the toy safety directive
In order to improve the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime in the EU, the EESC recommends that Member States provide their customs administrations and police forces with adequate human and technical resources, decent pay, working conditions and continued training. The opinion highlights that trade unions representing police and customs officials should be involved to better identify human resources and equipment needs. The EESC advocates better cross-border law enforcement coordination between police and customs authorities, and better cooperation between law enforcement and judicial authorities as well as fiscal authorities in order to combat organised crime as effectively as possible. The opinion also underlines that combating the abuse of drugs necessitates a differentiated, whole-of-society approach, remarking that drug use should be tackled more by means of preventive and accompanying measures and less through repression.
Приети on 25/10/2023 - Bureau decision date: 19/09/2023
In this opinion, the EESC: encourages reforming EU health systems for mental health by focusing on prevention, early detection, and community-based care; recommends that the EU Comprehensive Plan on Mental Health is swiftly transposed in an EU Mental Health Strategy which has a timeframe, funding defined responsibilities and progress indicators. The EESC highlights the importance of considering the influence of socio-economic and environmental factors on mental health within the European Semester process and emphasizes the need for increased investments in the health sector as part of National Recovery and Resilience Plans; supports the development of person-centered mental health systems that empower individuals and promote their active involvement in their own recovery, aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
This exploratory opinion will be an opportunity to follow up on the EESC work on sustainable food systems, address the causes of obesity as the social determinant of health and provide recommendations for promoting healthier and sustainable diets, healthy lifestyle habits and protection of vulnerable children to feed into the work of the Spanish presidency.
This opinion welcomes the Spanish Presidency's initiative of setting the goal to eliminate HIV related stigma and discrimination in Europe by 2030. It underlines that, in order to overcome stigma, discrimination and stereotypes, it essential to promote awareness-raising, training and information actions, involving organised civil society, youth and student organisations. The opinion also recommends a more ambitious new target for all countries to be achieved by 2030, improving coverage levels to as high as 95% for testing, treatment and virological suppression. Finally, it calls for new and innovative strategies to improve early diagnosis and make more people aware of their infection by expanding diversified and user-friendly approaches to more widely available HIV testing.
EESC opinion: Measures to fight stigma against HIV