The public hearing on 15 March 2021 is aiming to engage a range of civil society stakeholders to discuss the new EU strategy on adaptation to climate change adopted by the European Commission on 24 February 2021 and to provide input to develop civil society's position on the strategy's objective.
In the framework of the work on the opinion "Tackling non-performing loans in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic', the ECO section decided to organise a hearing to discuss the action plan and to collect the views of various organisations on the topic.
Equality and non-discrimination are fundamental rights and core values in the EU, enshrined in its Treaties and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. "Equal opportunities" is also the first chapter of the European Pillar of Social Rights. However, the Council of the EU continues to block the 2008 Commission proposal for an Equal Treatment Directive, which covers discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Having requested a referral to produce an opinion on this strategy, the EESC is starting by organising a remote public hearing on Thursday 11 February 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to 13:00 p.m. to evaluate how the LGBTIQ community continues to be discriminated against and to collect views on how to effectively tackle such discrimination – not only across all EU policies and funding programmes, but also at all other levels and in all domains. Only a cross-cutting approach will solve this problem.
On 17 February 2021, the European Economic and Social Committee has organised a hearing in the framework of its exploratory opinion requested by the Portuguese presidency on The role of social economy in the creation of jobs and in the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
Conditions so that teleworking does not increase the unequal distribution of unpaid care and domestic work between women and men and for it to be an engine for promoting gender equality
Event type
Public hearing
Location
Remote public hearing - EESC, Rue Belliard 99
1040, Brussels
Belgium
As part of its work to prepare an opinion on 'Telework and gender equality', the SOC Section of the EESC is organising a virtual public hearing on Monday 15 January 2021, from 10:30 a.m. to 13:00 p.m.
A selection of stakeholders from all levels (institutions, agencies, social partners and civil society organisations) will be invited to share their concrete reflexions and recommendations on this vast subject. This includes for instance the factors and considerations for taking up telework, how to secure work-life balance while teleworking, ways to ensure gender equality throughout these processes and any other matters they believe to be of relevance in this context.
With a view to gathering as much input as possible during the preparatory process for the opinion on The role of EU's trade and investment policies in enhancing EU's economic performance from a wide range of experts, the outcomes of the debate should feed into the preparation of the EESC opinion, to be adopted by the end of 2019.
The debate includes a first session focusing on the general implications of the EU's trade and investment policies on the enhancement of its internal economic performance, and a second session encompassing sustainable trade, environment and consumer policies.
A system of corporate liability for human rights abuses is currently being negotiated in the UN, within the UNHRC’s open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises concerning human rights (OEIGWG), established by the UN General Assembly on 26 June 2014. The mandate of the working group is to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises. While the EU and its Member States play a role at the OEIGWG, the Commission has no mandate from the Council to conduct negotiations on behalf of the EU concerning its participation in the OEIGWG.
After three sessions dedicated to conducting constructive deliberations on the content, scope, nature, and form of the future international instrument', following the UNHRC mandate, on 16 July 2018, the Permanent Mission of Ecuador, on behalf of the Chairmanship of the OEIGWG, published a Zero Draft legally binding instrument and a draft optional protocol to be annexed to it. The fourth session of the OEIGWG, held from 15 to 19 October 2018, debated this draft and marked the start of formal negotiations. There was a significant civil society presence at the session.
In this context, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is drafting an own-initiative opinion on A binding UN Treaty for Business and Human Rights. With a view to gathering knowledge during the preparatory works for the above-mentioned opinion from a wide range of experts and other civil society stakeholders a hearing is organised at the EESC premises.
Hearing on how to involve civil society in EU Member States when ratifying trade agreements
Event type
Public hearing
Location
Rue Belliard 99
Brussels
Belgium
In recent years, EU trade policy has become a true issue of debate in the civil society at national level: that shows the need to bring trade policy closer to EU citizens. EU Member States have different existing national structures, procedures and consultation methods, as well as ratification processes; however, citizens from most countries not always seem to be able to fully express their voices in national debates on trade policy. The objective of the event was that of a) assessing and examining the different kinds of consultation procedures that exist in the Member States; b) exploring how civil society and consultative structures, wherever they exist, are informed or consulted on negotiations and implementation of trade agreements, and c) promoting the experience of the EESC in the domain of the EU trade policy.
