Speech by Vice-President Rudolf Kolbe, EESC plenary debate with Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, and for Implementation and Simplification

EESC plenary debate on: European Commission's Work Programme

Dear Commissioner,

The Commission work programme is indeed ambitious and it will certainly be a challenge to implement it in the very turbulent and politically charged times we are living in;

I do agree with the work programme that we need to be: "…a Union that uses its size, power and values… and boost competitiveness, enhance security and bolster economic resilience in the EU";

But only as long as we take a balanced approach between the economic and the social, as well as an inclusive approach regarding the role and contribution of CSOs and citizens.

To illustrate this point, I would like to speak about the Preparedness Union Strategy, that the EC adopted yesterday;

The release of this Strategy is perfectly timed - just a few days after last week's EU Summit on defence and competitiveness;

Not coincidently, at this plenary we will adopt an Exploratory Opinion on the topic of crises and crisis phenomena in the EU;

This new proactive and comprehensive approach by the European Commission, makes clear that security and crisis preparedness go hand in hand;

Every Euro that governments cut from democracy-building, costs much more in military spending;

On the contrary, the Preparedness Union Strategy rightly takes a whole-of society approach and a whole of government approach.

Individual citizens do want to be more involved – a Eurobarometer study published last September revealed that 2/3 of respondents would like to be better informed on what to do in disaster and emergency situations;

I am pleased that the Strategy aims to build enabling societies of resilience and self-organisation;

And it is about involving local communities and developing a culture of preparedness, at the same time as respecting the principle of subsidiarity.

Earlier this morning, we discussed with Commissioner Michael McGrath about the forthcoming EU Civil Society Strategy;

Arguably, both the EU Preparedness Strategy and the forthcoming EU Civil Society Strategy must work in close coordination and complementarity;

The EESC, with its vast outreach to national and local CSOs, is at your full disposal to make both of these ambitions a reality.

Thank you for your attention.