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 Civil Society Platform complements the political bodies existing within the framework of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement, and it allows civil society organisations from both sides to monitor the implementation process and prepare their recommendations to the relevant authorities both in Georgia as well as in the European Union.
The 6th meeting of the EU-Georgia Civil Society Platform took place place on 26 February 2020 Brussels. During the meeting, a debate was held assessing the state of play of the implementation of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement. Constitutional reform in Georgia and occupational safety and health at workplace were also discussed.
The European Economic and Social Committee will hold a conference to shape the new EU agenda for disability rights 2020-2030on 26 February 2020 in the EESC's premises.
The aim of the conference is to present the EESC's proposal for the new strategy at a crucial moment in the EU landscape. With a new European Commission, a new European Parliament and a new budget programming period, it is now the perfect timing for a new Disability Strategy that fully takes into account the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCPRD), the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The conference will tackle various areas of work of the EU, drawing attention to the crosscutting character of disability rights.
European Economic and Social Committee
Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat 99
1040 Bruxelles/Brussel
Brussels
Belgium
ECI Day is an annual conference that has been organised by the EESC and its civil society partners since 2012, the year in which the first ECI Regulation 211/2011 was published. The 2020 (ninth) edition was marked by a major development, which was the entry into force of the new Regulation introducing substantial improvements and simplifications to the ECI procedure. However, the conference went beyond the text of the Regulation and presented a more global view of citizens' participation in general, with a view to putting the ECI in the context of topical societal developments and the debate on the Future of Europe. The EESC organised an interactive panel with researchers and authors on citizens' participation in the era of new technologies and more deliberative patterns in public consultations in order to allow for an open debate on present-day and future participation.
The Consultative Commission on Industrial Change organised seven round tables on coal transition in the past two years in various member states of the European Union. The countries visited were Germany, Romania, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Spain, Poland and Greece. Today we have a presentation and a debate on the findings of these round tables, also with the participation of some speakers who took part in the round tables.
During the meeting, the EU DAG discussed with representatives of the European Commission and a representative of the Mission of Canada to the EU the progress in work on implementation of the EU-Canada CETA. The Group exchanged views on the reports. Discussions on the preparation for the workshop on the occasion of the 2nd Joint meeting of the EU-Canada DAGs were also held.
550th plenary session of the EESC, with the following guests and debates: The Future of Work and the European Pillar of Social Rights with Guy Ryder; How the Committee can most effectively respond to international crises; Presentation of the European Commission work programme and the multiannual political priorities for 2019-2024 with Maroš Šefčovič; Presentation of the European Citizens' Initiative Eat ORIGINal with Roberto Moncalvo (tbc). The debates will be web streamed.
Paris, Conseil économique, social et environnemental
Palais d’Iéna – 9 place d’Iéna – 75775 Paris Cedex 16
Salle 301
Paris
France
The European Economic and Social Committee and the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council wish to hold a joint information seminar on the European Citizens' Initiative. The aim of the seminar is to present the ECI, as well as the work done by the EESC in this field, and to exchange experiences of initiatives undertaken at national and European level to better understand and manage the impact of citizen-led campaigns on the actions and decisions of legislators.
The 6th meeting of the EU-Moldova Civil Society Platform took place on 13 February 2020 in Chisinau in Moldova. During the meeting, a debate was held assessing the state of play of the implementation of the EU-Moldova Association Agreement. Social aspects of the implementation of the Association Agreement and Moldovan initiatives in justice sector and fighting corruption were discussed. Platform members also took stock of the Association Agenda EU-Moldova 2017-2019.