The EESC issues between 160 and 190 opinions 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.
On 20 February 2024 in Brussels, the EESC organised a conference on the Housing Crisis in Europe. This publication sets out the participants' assessment of the current state of affairs and their recommendations on how to tackle the current housing crisis.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Consultative Commission on Industrial Change (CCMI) believe that the present and future of critical raw materials resilience is of essential concern to EU's organised civil society. For this reason, and because the Commission's Action Plan represents a step forward by providing a clear roadmap with initiatives and actions to be taken at EU level, overall the EESC recommends that the European Parliament and the Council support this approach.
This brochure presents the EESC's opinions relating to the cohesion policy for the post-2020 period. It demonstrates the important role played by organised civil society representatives during this period in exerting influence on decision-makers, which led to the adoption of a number of important policy packages concerning the next programming period. The EESC was the first European institution to contribute to the development of the new programming period (2021-2027).
This brochure presents the EESC's opinions, position papers, resolutions and statements calling for the necessary measures to be taken at EU level, or commenting on those that have already been put forward, in order to tackle the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We pushed for a reconstruction and recovery plan that lives up to this unprecedented challenge.
In this brochure, we have put together a series of semester-related opinions and an information report in which the EESC makes policy recommendations on the various elements of the European Semester.
This study focuses on the use of trilogues and early agreements in the European Union (EU). Today, trilogues form the standard operating procedure for reaching agreements between the European Commission, European Parliament, and the Council of the EU. The use of trilogues has long raised concerns about public transparency and accountability. Much has already been done to improve the way in which each institution’s negotiating team is held accountable to their respective institutions. However, there is still scope for improving the transparency of trilogue meetings.
The European Union: how does it work? Can you influence decisions? Do you know how the policies that affect your life are made?
What if some of the EU’s complicated procedures were turned into a game – fun to play but challenging as well – that you could download onto your smartphone, tablet or laptop?
On the 6th november 2014, the European Economic and Social Committee unanimously adopted its contribution to the European Commission's 2015 work programme. This 15-page document is full of very specific proposals and suggestions for improvement, and clearly sets out the areas where civil society expects the new team heading the Commission to be active in the coming year.