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 European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has used an own-initiative opinion to call for sufficient funding resources to be put in place for implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights. Adopted at its plenary session on 19 April 2018, the opinion calls for improvements in the Member States and a robust commitment in terms of budget, investment and current spending to make the Social Pillar a reality.
In this era of digitalisation and globalisation, the EESC is calling for major efforts to implement balanced policies that put social, economic and environmental sustainability on an equal footing
To overcome the new imbalances and inequalities that have widened not only between the EU's different regions but also between social classes, genders and generations in European society, European policy-makers should ensure that social sustainability is taken into account in all their policies, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) said at its last plenary.
The EESC presents measures to avoid the severity of austerity in the future and to mitigate the negative effects of previous crisis management
Future crisis management should strive for a better balance between fiscal and social objectives to avoid adverse effects on the economic capacities, labour markets and social protection systems of the countries concerned. Instead of restrictive austerity, the EU institutions should in future crisis situations implement policies in pursuit of economic cooperation, growth and solidarity.
The Employers' Group did not support the EESC opinion on driving and rest time periods, working time and posting of workers (TEN/637). For the Group, the opinion did not sufficiently reflect differences of views in the Committee concerning the Commission's proposal on the posting of workers.
The Workers' Group is organising an extraordinary meeting in Brussels, on the occasion of the Belgian Council Presidency. The agenda includes a dicsussion on the priorities and programme of the Presidency.
This public hearing is being organised as part of the preparation of the exploratory opinion ECO/630 on "Boosting long-term inclusive growth through reforms and investment" requested by the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU. It focuses on how to foster upwards social convergence and cohesion, in an economic governance framework defined around debt sustainability, productive investments and reforms. It also looks at the implications of such a framework for the European Semester and the strengthening of the European Pillar of Social Rights.