The EESC considers that the proposed guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States are appropriate as they address the most urgent issues in the labour market. In current turbulent times, steps must be taken to strengthen both the role of the social partners and their involvement in designing and implementing employment, social and economic reforms and policies, including by building their capacity. As labour shortages are on the rise again, effective measures should be implemented in order to encourage the social partners to work on skills needs at national level, with action adapted to individual sectors and local situations. With fast technological change and the twin transition, the "lifespan" of previously acquired skills and competencies is getting ever shorter and lifelong acquisition of relevant skills and competencies is increasingly important for both workers and businesses. Labour mobility within the EU and legal labour migration should be encouraged.
Download — Udvalgets udtalelse: Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States
The own-initiative opinion (OIO) is part of an EESC umbrella opinion “A strategic vision on energy transition to enable sustainable development”covering various aspects of the energy transition. Once all opinions by the different EESC Sections have been gathered, the respective recommendations will constitute the EESC's overarching political message to the EU Institutions.
Download — Udvalgets udtalelse: Geopolitical impact of energy transition
The adoption of the European Union Climate law has set an ambitious emission reduction target for 2030 while confirming the climate neutrality objective for 2050. According to the IPCC scenarios, keeping global warming below 1.5°C requires that global anthropogenic net emissions should be zero by around 2050. Secondly, meeting this goal requires the deployment of CDR, which can happen by means of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and removals in the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector. The IPCC defines CDR as "anthropogenic activities removing CO2 from the atmosphere and durably storing it in geological, terrestrial, or ocean reservoirs, or in products".
Download — Udvalgets udtalelse: Role of carbon removal technologies in decarbonising the European industry
The European strategy for data proposed the establishment of domain-specific common European data spaces. The European Health Data Space (‘EHDS’) is the first proposal of such domain-specific common European data spaces. It will address health-specific challenges to electronic health data access and sharing, is one of the priorities of the European Commission in the area of health and will be an integral part of building a European Health Union. EHDS will create a common space where natural persons can easily control their electronic health data. It will also make it possible for researchers, innovators and policy makers to use this electronic health data in a trusted and secure way that preserves privacy.
Download — Udvalgets udtalelse: European Health Data Space
COM(2022) 204 concerns the reform of the current EU rules on Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services, which govern financial services sold at a distance. The overall objective of the proposal is to promote the provision of financial services in the internal market while ensuring a high level of consumer protection.
The EESC stresses that the rise of cross-border teleworking pose challenges to the international taxation systems and invites the Member States and the European Commission to work together to find solutions for the new situation. The Committee encourages the European Commission to consider whether a one-stop shop, like in the VAT area, could be set up for cross-border teleworkers to allow the employees and employers to reduce tax disputes and help to ensure that taxes are levied correctly.
Download — Udvalgets udtalelse: Taxation of cross-border teleworkers and their employers
