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.
EESC panel at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn
For the first time, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) organised a panel at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum (DW GMF) from 13 to 15 June in Bonn which attracts around 2000 attendees each year, amongst which 600 journalists from all over the world. The panel "Migration, a story of two worlds, featured Suhrab Balkhi and Prince Wale Soniyiki, two refugees from Afghanistan and Nigeria respectively; Mona Hemmer, a civil society representative from Finland, whose village hosted 100 refugees and Alexandra Föderl-Schmid, the chief-editor of the Austrian newspaper Der Standard. Michael Meyer, former award-winning correspondent for Newsweek, communication director for Ban Ki-mon and founding dean of the AKU graduate School of Media and Communications in Nairobi moderated the panel on 15 June.
EESC conference with the upcoming Slovak Presidency, 14th June in Bratislava
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) organised a conference in cooperation with the future Slovak Presidency of the EU Council and the active participation of the Slovak EESC Members, in Bratislava on 14th June 2016. The speakers included:
Georges Dassis, EESC President
Ján Richter, Slovak Minister for Labour, Social Affairs and the Family
Ivan Korčok, Ministre délégué for the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU
Mikuláš Luptáčik, Dean of the Faculty of national economy at the University of Economics in Bratislava
Denis Meynent, EESC Member, part of the study group "Changing employment relations"
The EESC organised a conference in cooperation with the future Slovak Presidency of the EU Council and the active participation of the Slovak EESC Members, in Bratislava on 14th June 2016. Held in the context of a meeting of the EESC bureau, the conference aimed to launch a close cooperation between the EESC and the Slovak Presidency of the EU Council. The topic "Impact of technological change on the social security system and labour law" was requested by the Presidency, indicating its focus, among others, on the European Pillar of Social Rights. The Slovak Minister, Ján Richter said ...
"Over the last two years war, persecution and poverty have forced more than one million people to seek refuge in Europe, following dangerous routes and risking their lives. Without the assistance of civil society in the reception of these people and the management of the humanitarian crisis, the outcome could have been even more disastrous"
The planet's resources will soon not be enough to support the growing world population, nor will it be possible to maintain a linear economic growth model which assumes that resources are abundant, available, easy to source and cheap to dispose of — hence the expression "take-make-consume and dispose". European Union flagship initiatives aim to shape the transition to a more circular economy. In addition to bringing economic benefits, this should prioritise efficient use of resources (metals, minerals, fuels, water, land, timber, fertile soil, clean air and biodiversity), allowing products to retain their added value for as long as possible and as little waste as possible to be generated and taken to landfills.
The president of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Georges Dassis, will be in Casal di Principe, Caserta and Naples from 15 to 17 June to pledge Europe's full support for Campania's civil society which is combating organised crime.
On Friday 10 June, the President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Georges Dassis, has been received by the French President at the Élysée Palace. Along with nine other signatories including fellow EESC Member from the Employers' Group, Philippe de Buck, he has promoted the Appeal of 9 May for a European renaissance.
Trends are always welcome in industry even though I maintain that we must constantly innovate to anticipate the trends. It takes a lot to establish a trend that might be important as regards getting good results for the manufacturing system.
Not since the late 1970s, when Europe adopted the so-called “Davignon rescue plan” for its steel, have we witnessed a more serious crisis in the European steel sector. This time it is caused by illegal foreign trade practices. Today, once again, European mills are idled. Plant continue to be shut down, the most recent case being in the UK. European workers are laid off. The EU has seen a 120% surge in Chinese imports since 2013, with 7 000 steelworkers having lost their jobs across Europe since autumn 2015.