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.
How could the Digital Single Market benefit european consumers? This year's theme was a wide-ranging subject covering issues affecting consumers today in a very tangible way. The Committee has recently issued several Opinions and studies covering the digital transformation and how it impacts modes of production and consumption, and its work feeded into the discussions on many relevant topics, such as data sharing, digital inclusion and access to internet for all, artifical intelligence, digital contract rights, unnecessary geo-blocking, digital currencies and fintech, the sharing economy and the Collaborative economy.
During the meeting, the members of the DAG debriefed on the results of the meeting with Colombia and Peru under the Trade and Sustainable Development Title, which took place on 7-8 December in Brussels . The representatives of the European External Action Service (EEAS) presented information about the EU relations and cooperation with Colombia and Peru. The Representatives of the DG Trade informed the members of the DAG on recent developments regarding the Trade and Sustainable development chapter as well as on their recent mission to Ecuador. The Group held then an internal debate on the topics to be selected for the next joint meetings, on the state of play of constitution of DAGs in Colombia and Peru and on the rights of indigene communities in Peru.
The social economy is prominent in everyday life and in the productive activity of large regions of the world and makes a decisive contribution to improving the living and working conditions of millions of people. However, the social economy is not specifically recognised as a sector in the EU development cooperation programmes.One of the principal aims of the opinion is that the external dimension of the EU’s programmes and initiatives should establish support measures specifically targeted at boosting businesses and organisations in the social economy.
As part of the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the Rome Treaties, the EESC, together with the Italian Council of Ministers and under the patronage of the Italian Parliament, is organising a conference on Sixty years of the European community— Let's shape the future, on 13 March 2017 at the Chamber of Deputies in Rome.
The aim of the conference is to facilitate a reflection on the future of the EU, particularly with regard to European civil society’s commitment to contribute to pursuing full European integration. This contribution, which has always characterised the EESC’s commitment over these 60 years, is all the more indispensable at a time when the EU must respond to the many crises with cohesive and unified policies.
With a view to taking stock of the Action Plan's implementation, looking at next steps and discussing the goals and practicalities of a European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, the EESC and the European Commission co-organised a conference which took place on 9-10 March in Brussels.
The second meeting of the EU Civil Society Domestic Advisory Group under the EU-Ukraine DCFTA took place on 8 March 2017 at the EESC premises. The meeting was chaired by Ms Isabelle Brose.
The severe economic crisis as well as the challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals require the EU to move forward with its strategic thinking beyond Europe 2020. The EESC intends to launch the debate with an EESC opinion on a long-term strategy for a sustainable Europe. The hearing on 1 March with experts and stakeholders should provide input for the further elaboration of the EESC opinion.
On June 2016, the Commission and the European external Action service presented the Joint Communication 'Towards an EU strategy for international cultural relations'. In it, three work streams are outlined:
- Supporting culture as an engine for sustainable social and economic development.
- Promoting Culture and intercultural dialogue for peaceful inter-community relations.
European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Jacques Delors building, room JDE 62, Rue Belliard 99, 1040 Brussels
Belgium
On 28 February 2017, the Labour Market Observatory (LMO) organised a public event on the topic of long-term unemployment, including aspects related to Roma and persons with disabilities. We discussed about the current state of play, further initiatives and good practices examples in this field, as well as about our Observatory's project to assess the implementation of the 2016 Council recommendation on long-term unemployed by Member States.