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.
The European recovery strategy is very clear, focusing on the twin transition: green and digital, and addressing strategic dependencies. In this regard, the joint undertakings have a very important role to play in bringing together European expertise from different economic sectors, fostering competitiveness, improving skills and strengthening the industrial base. In its opinion, the EESC analyses the nine institutionalised European partnerships covered by the Commission proposal based on Article 187 TFEU establishing individual joint undertakings for their implementation and formulates some recommendations regarding their framework and ecosystem.
Download — stanovisko EHSV: Establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe
The SUD can play a central role in the European Green Deal framework, being crucial to the Commission's Farm-to-Fork strategy for shifting to a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system, and complementary to both the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Zero Pollution Strategy.
Download — Information report: Evaluation on Directive on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (Information report)
The EU chemicals strategy aims to address the cumulative and combined effects of chemicals, including pesticides, stressing a need to accelerate work on methodologies that ensure existing provisions can be fully implemented.
The strategy is intended as a first step towards a zero pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment, as announced in the European Green Deal.
Download — stanovisko EHSV: Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability Towards a Toxic-Free Environment
The liberal professions are already very successful in using digital and artificial intelligence applications for the benefit of their clients, and are at the forefront of their technological development. They must continue to be more closely enlisted in the development and validation process in future in order to ensure applications are usable in practice and effective. The liberal professions need to update the content of training in order to ensure their own IT and digital skills and those of their employees are of the highest possible quality standard. The creation of new professions made possible by digitalisation should be encouraged, on the basis of the criteria and principles set out in the Rome Manifesto.
Download — stanovisko EHSV: Liberal Professions 4.0
In its opinion, the EESC calls for physical and digital completion of the internal market to be on an equal footing and for a high level of consumer protection to be achieved. It calls for greater durability of goods, access to sustainable products, a clean, circular, more climate-friendly economy and efficient use of products, as well as combating of planned obsolescence and the right to repair goods and products.
Social economy is a key and a growing contributor to the European economy and the job creation.
This exploratory opinion has been requested by the Portuguese presidency of the Council. Social economy represents a key and a growing contributor to the European economy and the job creation. It has a positive impact on working conditions and the enlargement of the labour market. Social economy has a pivotal role to play in the future Action plan for the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights by promoting social inclusion and a better access to the labour market.
Download — stanovisko EHSV: The role of social economy in the creation of jobs and in the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights
The Commission proposes a new pharmaceutical strategy for Europe. It is a patient-centred strategy that aims to ensure the quality and safety of medicines, while boosting the sector’s global competitiveness. The EU needs to make sure that patients have access to high-quality, effective and safe medicines. It will foster patient access to innovative and affordable medicines. It will support the competitiveness and innovative capacity of the EU’s pharmaceutical industry.