European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform – Call for expressions of interest open

The European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform is moving forward! The EESC and the European Commission have launched an open call for expressions of interest with a view to composing its coordination group.

Transitioning our economy from a linear "extract-make-use-dispose" model to a more circular one, where the value of resources is kept within production and consumption loops, is one of the key challenges Europe is facing. The Circular Economy Action Plan the European Commission adopted in December 2015 is a step in the right direction to accelerate this transition and help all stakeholders seize the opportunities it offers. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted its opinion on the Circular Economy Action Plan in April 2016.

In March this year, the European Commission and the EESC co-organised a joint stakeholder conference dedicated to the circular economy. This conference presented the latest developments and next steps on the implementation of the Circular Economy Action Plan and launched a European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (CE StakeholderEU); the second day of the conference, which took place on the premises of the EESC, featured a large participatory brainstorming exercise giving all participants the opportunity to have their say on what the platform should do and what it should look like. The conclusions of this brainstorming exercise were released in May.

The European Commission and the EESC have been working since then on the platform setup, in particular on its structure and objectives, based on the conference participants' input. The platform will aim at:

· Advancing the circular economy concept in Member States, regional and local governments, civil society and businesses;

· Strengthening the cooperation among stakeholders' networks to facilitate the exchange of expertise and good practices;

· Contribute to identify social, economic and cultural barriers to the transition towards a circular economy intended for policy makers at all level of governance.

The platform will have a coordination group in order to provide guidance, reinforce interaction between stakeholders, manage the exchange of good practices and foster the European debate on obstacles to the transition. With a view to selecting the members of this coordination group, a call for expressions of interest is currently open on the Commission's website until 31 August. Interested stakeholders working in the field of resource efficiency and the circular economy from across the EU are warmly invited to apply!

The first meeting of the coordination group is scheduled to take place in Autumn this year in Brussels.

For more information, please email EC-EESC-CIRCULARECONOMYCONFERENCE2017 (at) ec.europa.eu

#CEStakeholderEU

@EESC_SDO

@EESC_INT