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 revision of the Victims' Rights Directive aims to ensure that victims' rights are ensured, easier to access and improved for all victims' of crimes throughout the Union. The EESC welcomes this proposal and supports the following: improving the individual assessment of victims' needs, paying particular attention to more vulnerable or marginalised groups; improving guidelines and training so that such assessments are done correctly; enhancing the victim's right to information and having the right to review a decision during court proceedings; strengthening compensation schemes for victims.
Download — Udvalgets udtalelse: Revision of victims' rights directive
This initiative reports on the application and impact of EU rules on payment services, as required by the review clause of the Second Payment Services Directive and announced in the Commission´s retail payments strategy of 2020.
Download — Udvalgets udtalelse: Open finance and payments
The Toy Safety Directive sets out the safety requirements that toys must meet before they can be marketed in the EU. This initiative aims to protect children better against risks in toys, particularly from chemicals. It builds on work such as the chemicals strategy for sustainability, and on an evaluation of the current toy safety rules completed in 2020. At the same time, it aims to strengthen the Single Market for toys.
Download — Udvalgets udtalelse: Revision of the toy safety directive
In this opinion, the EESC suggests several changes to the Commission's proposal, to make the text fully compliant with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Namely, the Committee suggest that if the adoption of a legal measure against a vulnerable person clearly violates human rights and international law, a Member State should be obliged not recognise such a measure.
Download — Udvalgets udtalelse: International protection of adults