Opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on measures that the Union may take in relation to the combined effect of anti-dumping or anti-subsidy measures with safeguard measures (codification)
The EESC considers the abolition of the milk quota system from 31 March 2015, as decided in 2008, to be a fundamental change. Since the introduction of this comprehensive method of guiding production on 1 April 1984, it has over time become increasingly clear that dairy prices and farmers' incomes have not been sufficiently effectively supported and stabilised and that dairy production in the EU has decreased, while rising significantly worldwide.
The EESC argues that EU dairy policy after expiry of the milk quota system, i.e. post-2015, must not only allow for growth and expansion but should also be obligated to avoid abandonment of dairying and to provide support for smaller farmers especially in disadvantaged areas and mountainous regions .
Download — EESC opinion: Expiry of the milk-quota system
Exposure to electromagnetic fields has been increasing in recent years, following the expansion of technologies. In addition to health problems, this can result in limited access to many public or private facilities (libraries, hospitals or even public transport), especially in buildings where devices have been installed for transmitting wireless technology.
These people may sometimes suffer the incomprehension and scepticism of doctors who do not deal with this syndrome professionally and therefore fail to offer proper diagnosis and treatment.
Due to the serious differences in scientific opinion, the independence of bodies involved in establishing maximum exposure levels must be reinforced.
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome is a complex problem which has to be solved through a combination of legislative and other measures. The EESC is in favour of adopting binding safeguarding legislation that reduces or mitigates exposure to electromagnetic fields.
The EESC welcomes the Commission's communication, which calls for the establishment in the European Union of a thriving data-driven economy and thus a digital economy using information technologies.
The EESC stresses that the broad dissemination of information technologies in all areas of society and the economy, culture and education will provide enormous development opportunities, but it is necessary to support IT-related research and development in the technical, economic and social sciences. The EESC regrets the substantial reduction in funding for the financing of digital infrastructure under the Connecting Europe Facility and strongly advocates drawing appropriate conclusions. A new investment plan presented by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in December 2014, aimed at mobilising at least EUR 315 billion in the form of additional public and private investment in key areas such as digital infrastructure, is in this context a welcome policy response.
Growing global demand for food and the financial investors' interest in the agricultural sector have led to large-scale acquisitions, also known as "land grabbing", of farming land all over the world. .
The aim of the opinion is to take stock of the land grabbing phenomenon in the EU, and to discuss its extent and various causes. The document should explain the implications of this process for the environment, jobs, the local population, rural life and food security. It focuses on large-scale acquisitions of agricultural land (including the associated bodies of water), which should be seen as a natural resource.
As 2014 has been designated as the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) by the UN, the opinion will also contribute to the debate in this context.
Download — EESC opinion: Land grabbing in Europe/family farming
The main aim of the review is to assess whether all existing priorities of the EU-Central Asia Strategy remain valid, and whether the EU should maintain its current focus on issues such as security, education, sustainable development (energy, transport and environment), and the rule of law.
Download — Civil society contribution to the review of the EU-Central Asia Strategy
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) believes that the prospect of a European circular economy should bring a major boost to the systemic competitiveness of the EU, a driver for growth and a generator of new green jobs and skills.
Download — EESC opinion: The circular economy: job creation and the Green Action Plan for SMEs
The Committee welcomes the two communications and the package of amendments to the waste directives and supports the campaign to make all businesses and consumers aware of the need to phase out the current linear economic model of "take, make, consume and dispose" .
The main policy objective is to reduce the level of IPR infringements outside the EU – which detrimentally affect EU right holders – while better tailoring our action so as to also take account of specific challenges and needs of for example developing countries.
Download — Strategy for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in third countries
Opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Union (codification)
Download — Protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Union
Opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain procedures for applying the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Montenegro, of the other part (codification)
Download — Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Montenegro, of the other part
Opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the measures that the Union may take following a report adopted by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body concerning anti-dumping and anti-subsidy matters (codification)
Download — Measures concerning anti-dumping and anti-subsidy matters
Opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down Union procedures in the field of the common commercial policy in order to ensure the exercise of the Union’s rights under international trade rules, in particular those established under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (codification)
Opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for imports of textile products from certain third countries not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Union import rules (recast)
Download — Common rules for imports of textile products from certain third countries
Opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for imports from certain third countries (recast)
Download — Common rules for imports from certain third countries
