European Economic and Social Committee
The conference was originally planned for 12 March 2020 and postponed several times as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organisers decided to reschedule the event and to organise it in January 2022 (the exact date will be decided in October or November 2021).
The European Migration Forum – the dialogue platform on migration, asylum and migrant integration – will meet for the sixth time on 27-28 October 2021.
Participation in the Forum meeting is by invitation only - the call for interested organisations is now closed.
In order to reshape the European economy and in line with the objectives stated by the European Commission for a more sustainable, greener and digitalised economy, investments must support environmental goals and remove obstacles to corporate dividend policymaking and payments. Among many other factors, the debt-equity bias in the corporate tax systems affects both the leverage of firms and corporate governance. The EESC welcomes the recent public consultation on a new initiative to mitigate the debt-equity bias in corporate taxation launched by the European Commission and shares the Commission's view that companies should contribute to the achievement of a greener, sustainable and digitalised economy. The EESC aspires to contribute to the ongoing public debate and will hold an online public hearing ‘’The role of corporate taxes in corporate governance - addressing the debt-equity bias" on 8 October 2021.
The fourth conference of the Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion (SI4RI) builds on previous editions in 2016, 2017 and 2019. The 2021 conference will explore in particular how the diverse landscape of partnerships, social enterprises, participatory models, and community led initiatives spearheading social innovation for inclusion have fared against the backdrop of COVID 19. It will also discuss how this ecosystem can emerge strengthened from the crisis, and how innovations can reach underserved places and highly vulnerable groups.
On 1 October the Category will mark its 30th anniversary, with high-profile speakers and round tables. The event is organised in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
Topics on the agenda: how to enhance the accession process – a credible EU perspective for the Western Balkans; the contribution of CSOs to the Green Agenda and sustainable development of the Western Balkans as part of the EU accession process; the state of social dialogue, as well as enabling civic space in the Western Balkans.
This event aims to raise awareness among policymakers and other stakeholders of the important contribution of community/grassroots initiatives to global goals and to navigating social, environmental and economic changes in support of wider transformation.
In the context of the own-initiative opinion on Volunteers – Citizens building the future of Europe, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is organising a remote public hearing on Monday 20 September 2021. The aim of the hearing is to gather the points of view of social partners and other civil society organisations, experts and coordinators of projects related to volunteering, on the topic, and to hold a discussion on the impact of civil society trends for volunteering and the current state of play of volunteering at European level.
The EESC is organising this online public hearing to discuss the impacts of the environmental degradation on the fulfilment of the fundamental human rights. It will explore how recent shifts in the legal systems, the regulatory frameworks as well as the recent developments in climate litigation can leverage an achievement of environmental protection for citizens.
With the European Green Deal and the objective to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, the EU and its Member States have assumed a leading role in global climate action. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is one step in the process. As part of the "Fit for 55" legislative package, it sets a carbon price on certain goods that are imported from non-EU countries.
To feed into the EESC opinion, this remote public hearing will bring together speakers and participants from organised civil society, business associations, think tanks, as well as EU institutions to discuss the future design and implementation of CBAM.
