European Economic
and Social Committee
European Economic
and Social Committee
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is the voice of organised civil society in Europe.
Find out more about its role and structure at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/about
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.
Find the latest EESC opinions and publications at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/opinions-information-reports/opinions and http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/publications-other-work/publications respectively.
The EESC is active in a wide range of areas, from social affairs to economy, energy and sustainability.
Learn more about our policy areas and policy highlights at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/policies
The EESC holds nine plenary sessions per year. It also organises many conferences, public hearings and high-level debates related to its work.
Find out more about our upcoming events at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/agenda/our-events/upcoming-events
Here you can find news and information about the EESC'swork, including its social media accounts, the EESC Info newsletter, photo galleries and videos.
Read the latest EESC news http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/news and press releases http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/press-releases
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.
Find out more about our Members and groups at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/members-groups
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.
Find out more at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/sections-other-bodies
This year 2022, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) will jointly organise the first EU organic awards with the European Commission, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), COPA-COGECA and IFOAM Organics Europe, with the aim of recognising excellence and rewarding the best and most innovative actors in the EU organic value chain.
The #EUOrganic awards comprises 7 categories and 8 awards for best organic:
The EESC, advocating for years for a more sustainable and comprehensive food policy in the EU, will be responsible for three awards: best organic SME, best organic food retailer, and best organic restaurant. The application form is available here.
Online applications will be open from 25 March to 8 June 2022, and will be available here.
A ceremony will be organised on EU Organic Day on 23 September 2022, where winners will present their innovative projects and be awarded a non-financial recognition.
Background
The Commission has defined a target of 25% of EU agricultural land under organic farming by 2030. In support of that target, the Commission adopted the action plan for the development of organic production in March 2021. This action plan takes the approach that in order to stimulate organic production and consumption, increased public awareness of its characteristics and benefits is critical. The action plan therefore includes annual awards as one of the strategies to reach this goal. (mr)