The upcoming Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU requested this exploratory opinion given that at present, consumers are experiencing dynamic changes due to the development of digital technologies and the green transition. In order to ensure a high level of consumer protection, it is necessary to respond adequately to changes in the consumer environment and to take action in response to current long-term challenges.
This own-initiative opinion stresses that any kind of violence against women is a violation of women’s human rights. The EESC believes Directive 2024/1385/EU on combating violence against women and domestic violence should address all forms of violence against women and calls for sexual violence and rape to be included as a form of violence and criminalised based on the absence of consent. Highlights that any kind of violence against women is a significant public and clinical health concern, while stressing the multiple and intersectional discrimination suffered by women with disabilities.
This new opinion aims to show with concrete examples the potential of combining advanced robotics and virtual worlds of the metaverse in the service of the medical sector and to draw conclusions on the actions to be implemented for Europe to become a leader in these sectors.
The EESC denounces the deterioration of human rights, the rule of law, and democracy, and calls for further improvements of the Commission's Annual Rule of Law Reports. Among others, it recommends that the Commission ensures meaningful involvement of civil society in both the preparation and follow-up stages of the report at the national level, and expands the Report’s section on CSOs. The Commission's assessment should be based on objective benchmarks and transparent dialogue with CSOs and the Commission needs to develop more precise and measurable country-specific recommendations with clear benchmarks, indicators and deadlines.
Following in the steps of the recommendations presented by Enrico Letta in his report on the Single Market, the opinion aims at proposing concrete measures on how to help reconcile the needs of social economy enterprises with the application of State Aid rules, taking into account existing good practices at national level.
Download — Γνωμοδότηση της ΕΟΚΕ: How to support social economy entities in line with State aid rules: thoughts following the suggestions in Enrico Letta’s report
