European Economic and Social Committee
517th Plenary Session - On 25 May 2016, debate on the future of ACP-EU relations, in conjunction with the adoption of opinion REX/455 with Joseph Chilengi President of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union (ECOSOCC) and Neven Mimica Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development.
On 26 May 2016, debate with Patrick Bernasconi, President of the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council.
During the meeting, the Commission representative provided information about the implementation of the project on labour standards delivered in cooperation with the ILO in El Salvador and Guatemala. The Commission also informed about preparations for meetings with Central America planned for 15-17 June in Honduras, in particular meeting of the intergovernmental Board on Trade and Sustainable Development. The EU Advisory Group then discussed preparations for the civil society meetings with Central America, which this year will include a workshop on market access, a joint meeting of the Advisory Groups and an open Civil Society Dialogue Forum. In the afternoon, a video-conference with Central American partners took place to discuss preparations for joint meetings.
On 20 May 2016, the EESC's TEN Section project delegation carried out a study visit in Lisbon to gain first-hand knowledge of some of the extremely interesting smart city projects that have been set up in the city.
The Lisbon region boasts a high concentration of companies involved in high-level technology and research, with approximately 333 000 companies headquartered in the region.
The delegation had the opportunity for a study visit to learn more about the Sharing Cities lighthouse project.
The Raw Materials Initiative and the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials are key policies that may contribute decisively to maintaining the competitiveness and sustainability of European industry and, consequently, the maintenance or creation of new jobs.
The 24th meeting of of the European Economic Area Consultative Committee took place in Vaduz (Liechtenstein) on 19-20 May 2016.
The members of the Committee discussed the latest developments in EEA and well as EU/EFTA issues. The Consultative Committee adopted two resolutions on the following topics:
Exhibition of photographs taken by the British photojournalist Giles Duley
In the framework of a cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Giles Duley is capturing the stories of the refugees arriving on the Greek island of Lesvos.
Mr Duley will take part at the opening and present his work in person
The 14th EU-China Civil Society Round Table took place in Brussels on 18 and 19 May 2016. Topics set up for discussion during this meeting of the Round Table were Innovation and economic development in rural areas, and Infrastucture and investment, in the framework of the One Belt One Road initiative and the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The aim of the discussions was to find common ground and exchange ideas and best practices.
This public hearing will discuss the current state of multilateral trade negotiations on agriculture. After the Nairobi agreement of export competition, some progress could be made on the areas of market access (tariffs and quotas) and, to some extent, on domestic support.
On 17th May 2016, a delegation of EESC Members of the "Transport, energy, infrastructures and information society" section went on mission to the Aegean islands (EL), with the objective to learn about the islands' production of energy.
The UN CRPD and its Optional Protocol were adopted by the EU in 2010. They are the first international human rights convention ever to be signed and ratified by the EU.The EU has to periodically submit to the UN CPRD Committee a report detailing the measures taken to implement the convention. The first report was submitted in 2014, and in 2015 the UN Committee responded with a series of recommendations (“concluding observations” - COs) on how the EU can, within its remit, promote and safeguard the rights of people with disabilities in Europe.
The EESC is currently drafting an own-initiative opinion focussing on the implications of the CO's for future EU disability policy. The objective of the hearing is to offer a forum for debate and gather contributions from relevant stakeholders.
The conclusions of the hearing will feed directly into the work of the drafting group which will hold its second meeting in the afternoon of the same day.
