The EESC issues between 160 and 190 opinions, evaluation 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.
The Commission’s aim for this non-legislative initiative is to “propose tools on developing open human-centric virtual worlds,” according to the 2023 work program .
Download — Становище на ЕИСК: Initiative on virtual worlds
The EESC is a fervent defender of multilateralism and a rules-based world order. Its External Relations Section deals with many topics relevant to the broad spectrum covered by the United Nations and its specialised agencies, while many EESC opinions refer to core international principles and regularly cite the United Nations.
Download — Становище на ЕИСК: Strengthening Multilateralism and core international principles for a rules-based order in a rapidly changing world – The importance of Civil Society contribution to the UN system
The EESC welcomed the European Commission's proposal to modernise the EU legislative framework against corruption by incorporating international standards, including those in the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). The EESC recommended that Member States adopt rules in a number of areas, including on incompatibility, lobbying, access to elected officials, recruitment of public officials and funding of political parties. Other ways to reinforce anti-corruption measures would be through an extension of the competences of the EU Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) and the creation of an independent corruption prevention authority at EU-level. The opinion also suggested to extend the legal basis of the Directive and introduce speedy procedures to administer justice for corruption-related crimes.
Download — Становище на ЕИСК: Update of the anti-corruption legislative framework
Every year in February, the EESC adopts an opinion on Annual Sustainable Growth Survey, which the Commission usually presents at the end of November in the year before. The Committee works under tight deadlines, in anticipation of the referral, to finalise the opinion before the March Council discussion on the topic. To reinforce the Committee's impact throughout the entire European Semester, an own-initiative opinion with additional considerations is regularly produced by October taking into account the overall European Semester, which plays a central role in implementing the Recovery and Resilience Facility and is vital in current discussions about the review of the EU macro-economic governance framework.
Download — Становище на ЕИСК: Additional considerations on the Annual Sustainable Growth Survey 2023
As committed during the negotiations on the long-term EU budget 2021-2027, the European Commission has on 20 June 2023 completed its proposal for a next generation of own resources. The package includes a new temporary statistical own resource based on company profits. The Commission also proposes to adjust the own resources proposals based on the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) compared to the original proposals from December 2021.
Download — Становище на ЕИСК: Next generation of own resources