Employment in agriculture has been steadily declining over the last 15 years. The agri-food industry relies heavily on the contributions of seasonal and migrant workers to meet the demands of planting, harvesting, and processing crops. The current situation, best practices, opportunities, and the state of play of European policies on seasonal and migrant workers were discussed at a seminar organised by SafeHabitus and hosted by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).
Microplastic pollution has emerged as a critical environmental concern, with its detrimental impact reaching far and wide across ecosystems and human health. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) acknowledges the urgency of addressing the issue and supports the European Commission’s proposal to regulate microplastic pellet operations and emissions.
In an opinion adopted at its January plenary session, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) addressed the impact of climate change and environmental degradation on peace, security and defence. The Committee stresses the urgent need to invest in setting up resilient responses to these global challenges. The Committee's position is that it is imperative to continue integrating the climate and security nexus by creating proactive interfaces between the institutions responsible for both external relations and the Member States' security and defence services.
The European Union's food system is currently facing crises on multiple fronts, as it tackles environmental, climate, health, and social challenges, and anticipates Ukraine's accession, which will need to be followed by Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform. In response to these challenges...
While the war in Ukraine is dragging on, concerns are mounting about the transboundary environmental damage it has caused. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted an own-initiative opinion at its April plenary on ....
The EESC held a conference on the future of European strategic autonomy. The event was organised jointly by three Committee bodies; the Digital Transition and Single Market Observatory, the Labour Market Observatory and the Sustainable Development Observatory. Policy-makers, experts from organised civil society and academia, as well as youth representatives, gathered to discuss how to overcome current and future obstacles to a self-sufficient EU in times of great geopolitical tensions and multiple crises.
Drastically improving the energy efficiency of Europe's buildings, increasing the use of renewables and educating consumers on energy savings are among the main prerequisites for reducing the number of energy poor in the EU in the long term.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) supports the key messages of the European Commission's Communication on Sustainable Carbon Cycles in an opinion adopted at its May plenary, and believes that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) must provide a strategic framework paving the way for a low-carbon transition in agriculture.
Following the publication of the evaluations on the shortcomings of the Environmental Criminal Directive – ECD, the Commission decided to replace it with a new EU Directive aimed at making the protection of the environment through criminal law more precise, legally secure and effective. In the opinion "Improving environmental protection through criminal law", adopted at the March plenary session, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) made concrete proposals to improve the legislation, in order to make it truly effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
