Europäischer Wirtschafts- und Sozialausschuss
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5
Period 2015-2020
During the years 2015-20, the the Social Economy Category has striven to promote and defend the interests of the social economy to the widest possible audience. It has sought to gain recognition for the substantial contribution of the sector to Europe’s socio-economic development and to the success of the European integration process.
In 2005 the Commission adopted the "Monti-Kroes package", updated in 2011 (the "Almunia package"), with key rules for services of general economic interest (SGEI) funding. The Commission declared its intention to carry out a review of this set of rules five years after their entry into force.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted an own initiative opinion in order to contribute to the upcoming Commission review by taking a detailed look at experience with implementing the SGEI package.
This study shows that the Almunia package has led to substantial improvements in clarity and legal certainty as regards the provision of SGEIs and state aid. It has achieved the right balance between the need to foster and support SGEIs and the objective of preventing potential distortions in competition.
The "Smart Cities" project is a follow-up to the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) own-initiative opinion on smart cities as a driver of a new European industrial policy, adopted in July 2015.
The EESC "Smart Islands" project is based on the own-initiative of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on Smart islands TEN/558.
