believes it is relevant to address disparities between the various MRS, especially with regard to the regions most disadvantaged, to prevent turning economic competitiveness and social cohesion into something problematic that will lead to bigger gaps between regions that are more "developed" and those that are less so;
proposes establishing a system for the short- and medium-duration exchange of civil servants between the regions of the MRS, similar to the Erasmus programme;
proposes organising forums with the representatives of civil society and social partners in MRS Member States;
The EESC undertakes to support and take part in a high-level declaration on eliminating HIV-related stigma and discrimination in Europe, to be issued by the European institutions;
considers it essential to promote awareness-raising, training and information actions with the aim of overcoming stigma, discrimination and false stereotypes;
calls for a more ambitious new target for all countries to be achieved by 2030, improving coverage levels to as high as 95% for testing, treatment and virological suppression.
The EESC agrees with the proposal to add a social progress protocol (SPP) to the Treaties. The SPP would prioritise fundamental social rights over economic freedoms in the event of conflict and in EU policies;
encourages the Spanish presidency to convene a meeting of the Council of Social Affairs Ministers that would agree on a joint proposal and enable a specific EU summit to be held to adopt it;
It is convinced that an SPP will enable the EU to be a leader when it comes to economic growth, the well-being of its citizens, and robust and sustainable businesses.
considers that the EU Youth Agenda should tackle the challenges faced by young Europeans and should also determine how the EU can help young people overcome them;
believes that the EU Youth Dialogue should be improved by involving young people's representative bodies in decision-making and by considering young people's new ways of engagement;
emphasises the importance of supporting young people when it comes to housing costs, and of promoting public housing policies.
Energy, including the infrastructure for the transport and distribution, cannot be treated like any other commodity: it is an essential building block of our economic and social system and thus a central part of the provision of public services. Therefore, energy supply is classified as a service of general interest. It is therefore necessary to create regulatory framework conditions for future energy that guarantee both an environmentally-friendly, affordable and reliable supply of energy and the right to energy.
The EESC welcomes the basic objective of the proposed Regulation to strengthen the monitoring and transparency of the wholesale energy markets. It underlines, continuous monitoring and analysis is required so that appropriate interventions and regulatory responses can be made in a timely manner on a sound basis. It also calls for proportionality in data reporting and the application of the once-only principle. The revision should aim at creating a transparent and non-discriminatory system, while avoiding a misuse of data collected.
The objective of providing European Union drivers with a digital driving licence also aims to put an end to differences and bureaucratic delays between the various Member States in processing applications from foreign drivers for exchanging foreign licences, which lead to obstacles to freedom of movement. This driving licence will be held on a mobile phone or any other digital device. The EESC supports this objective, but hopes that paper-based driving licences will remain available to drivers who wish them. Furthermore, for reasons related to the digital inclusion of all age groups, the EESC recommends personalised and free training and coaching on using new digital driving licences.
Uniform measures among the Member States should be adopted to ensure a level playing-field, except in those aspects relating to essential facilities or infrastructure.
