Big data, the digital revolution and sustainability, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement, were the topics discussed at the 17th EU-China roundtable held from 10 to 12 July 2019 in Shanghai. High-level representatives of the EESC met with their counterparts from the China Economic and Social Council (CESC).
The list of new work appointments for July 2019 and the most recent list of ongoing EESC work are available for download in the attachments below.
Corporate taxes could the the most harmful form of taxation to economic growth. Contrary to public perception, there has been no reduction in corporate tax revenues in relation to GDP in the last 40 years. Countries that have reduced their corporate tax rates in recent years have seen increases in investment in the following years. There is no race to the bottom, rather to a middle range of some 20% corporate tax rate and revenues are stable or even increasing.
I strongly welcome the political agreement reached for an ambitious and comprehensive trade agreement between Mercosur and the EU. In the midst of increasing trade protectionism, this trade agreement, is a strong positive signal in favour of multilateralism as well as open, rule-based and free trade between the EU and its partners.
The list of new work appointments for June 2019 and the most recent list of ongoing EESC work are available for download in the attachments below.
On 19 June 2019, the EESC adopted opinion TEN/692 on essential services in the context of the Social Pillar. Even though the Employers' Group members supported the document, we would like to express our reservations towards the fact, that economic aspect of essential services was insufficiently tackled in the opinion.
According to the new study commissioned by the European Economic and Social Committee, cross-border services generate new jobs and economic growth. They are positive for all EU countries, for different kinds of jobs – both labour and knowledge intensive. The document proves that avoiding strict regulation in the cross-border services internal market is beneficial for the EU economy. A reduction of the share of cross-border services by 1 % would cost the EU economy around 8 billion euro.
The EU is well on track to achieve the 2020 targets on greenhouse gas emissions reductions. However, maintaining a healthy trajectory towards a carbon-neutral economy will demand clear investment planning in R&D and infrastructure, significant clean energy deployment and political will, both internationally and at home, over the coming decades.
The high participation rate was the unquestionable success of these elections and we all hope that this is the beginning of a longer trend, said Danuta Huebner, Member of the European Parliament, at the meeting with the Presidency of the Employers' Group on 3 June in Warsaw. She underlined that European citizens' awareness and expectations of the EU are growing and that we are witnessing the creation of "European demos".
The public hearing on the opinion Towards better economic convergence and competitiveness within EU macro-regions was held on 21 May 2019 on the premises of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest.
