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.
9.00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m. | Room VMA 3 | EESC | Rue van Maerlant 2
Brussels
Belgium
The public hearing aims to engage a wide range of civil society organisations in order to find the optimal approach in remodelling the trend of investing financial resources in remedying climate change damages into a trend of investing in prevention and adapting to climate change measures instead.
The EESC ECO Section is organizing a public hearing on "The collaborative economy - data exchange with tax authorities" to be held in Tallinn on 13 February 2020. This event contributes to the preparatory work for the opinion ECO-500.
The EESC is of the view that in the fast-paced development of the collaborative economy requires an update how tax related information exchange is organised. Furthermore, the need for transparency and reporting to authorities both from the businesses providing the platforms and from the consumers using them has been raised by governments. In particular, tax authorities are demanding that they gain access to information for taxation purposes.
9.00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m. | EESC VMA 3, Rue Van Maerlant 2
1040 | Brussels
Belgium
This event is aiming to engage a broad range of civil society organisations to discuss the core messages of the SOER 2020 report and their implications for actions in support to ongoing policy processes (i.e. the European Green Deal, the next EU environment programme, Horizon Europe, etc.).
The incoming Croatian Presidency has requested the EESC to draft an opinion on the topic of "The effects of campaigns on participation in political decision-making".
In view of the European elections and campaigns aimed at informing European citizens conducted by the institutions of the European Union and the Member States, a public hearing will be held in the morning of Wednesday 5 February, at the EESC. The aim of the hearing is to examine the current state of play and lessons learned from the May 2019 elections, and to look at the ways forward, i.e. how to enhance participation and disable disinformation of European citizens..
During its mission to Japan, the EU-Japan Follow-up Committee relied on its former work in order to further strengthen its cooperation with its well-established network of organisations.
Examples of involvement of economic and social stakeholders and other actors to contribute to sustainable trade
Meeting
Tokyo
Japan
The symposium was introduced by a presentation of an external speaker and followed by a Q&A-session. In the first session, focus was on the consultation of civil society in the context of policy and legislation development and implementation, including in the context of trade policy, trade agreements and Trade and Sustainable Development chapters. The participants had the possibility to share information on how civil society functions and is consulted in the respective countries. The second session was a networking coffee, and the participants were given the possibility to discuss the involvement of economic and social stakeholders and other actors to contribute to sustainable trade. The aim of the discussions was to share experience and build the ground for future cooperation.
9.00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m. | Room JDE 62 | EESC | Rue Belliard 99
1040 | Brussels
Belgium
The EESC trainees with the support of the Sustainable Development Observatory (SDO) and the Directorate B for Legislative Works will host a public meeting aimed at offering a comprehensive approach to biodiversity in day-to-day life by engaging with a wide range of stakeholders and, in particular, youth.
549th plenary session, with the following debates: The priorities of the Croatian Presidency of the EU; Farewell ceremony for UK members and delegates; European Citizens' Initiative End the Cage Age, and From COP25 to European Green Deal
During the meeting, the members of the EU Domestic Advisory Group (EU DAG), composed of representatives of employers' organisations, trade unions and various interest groups, will adopt its rules of procedure and confirm the composition of the EU DAG. Discussions will also take place on the preparation of the participation of the EU DAG in the Joint Dialogue with Civil Society, which will be organised in Tokyo on 31 January in the framework of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).