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 webinar will explore two inter-related questions: How has the COVID-19 crisis affected the mental health of young people in Europe and what has been the impact on their employability? It will be an informal and fully virtual event on Microsoft Teams in English only.
Europe Day on 9 May commemorates the date of the Schuman Declaration, which was the starting point for today’s European Union. It is a chance to reflect on what solidarity has built and what we hope to achieve in the future.
It is also a chance to make EU citizens feel even more strongly that they are part of something bigger, as expressed in the Europe Day interinstitutional theme of "togetherness".
The hybrid conference will see the launch of the EESC study "The response of civil society organisations to the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent restrictive measures adopted in Europe", as well as topical debates with high-level speakers and civil society representatives. External participants are kindly invited to follow the meeting from remote.
The aim of this event was to illustrate the pivotal role and daily challenges of civil society organisations in helping refugees and migrants. In doing so, the Diversity Europe Group wished to re-focus political attention on the topic and to offer a forum for civil society and EU Institutions to debate these issues in the context of EU recovery and reconstruction, post Covid-19. Following the concept of a “hybrid meeting”, the conference took place both online and at the premises of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels.
The Diversity Europe Group is organising an extraordinary meeting in Rijeka (Croatia) to discuss and invigorate the civil society debate on the current and future role of European citizens in the protection and promotion of fundamental European values, with a special focus on democracy and the state of civic space across the EU, solidarity in the context of global migration and sustainable development – the Green Deal.
On 6 December, the Diversity Europe Group organised its Extraordinary group, entitled Agenda for Europe: towards 2025.
The debate was opened by the President of the group Arno Metzler and by Mr Ribbe who is rapporteur of the resolution 'The EESC's contribution to the Commission's 2020 work programme and beyond'.
On 13 November, the event, entitled Trust in liberal professions in the age of digitalisation and artificial intelligence, aimed to gain fresh insight into the impact of artificial intelligence on the exercise of professional services and on clients' and patients' rights. Speakers addressed fundamental issues such as transparency, communication and trust in professionals, regulators' awareness of the challenges linked to the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence, the consequences on the quality of professional services and their capacity to protect public interest. Stay tuned for more information !
The objective of the conference on 12 November was to launch the discussion on interrelated topics, but with a forward looking and practical approach. To explore how to move from the personal experience to the Institutional, how to change mind-sets and overcome prejudices.
On 15 October, the Consumers and Environment Category of the EESC held its public event on the topic 'New EU goals and policies for sustainable development - Joint perspective of consumers and environmentalists'.
