The EESC believes that the fight against terrorism and its financing and efforts to combat money laundering and other related forms of economic crime should be permanent EU policy priorities. These efforts should be linked more closely with the efforts needed to combat tax fraud and tax avoidance. Therefore, the EESC considers creating public national registers of the beneficial owners of bank accounts, businesses, trusts and transactions, and access to them by obliged entities, to be a priority. Furthermore, all obligations laid down in the Anti Money Laundering Directive should be extended to all territories or jurisdictions whose sovereignty resides with the Member States. And free trade and economic partnership agreements should include a chapter on measures to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing, tax fraud and tax avoidance.
Download — EESC opinion: Revision of anti- money-laundering directive
Alarming political decisions have shown that the EU lacks adequate instruments to safeguard fundamental values and the rule of law. A new European mechanism on the rule of law and fundamental rights is needed. The mechanism should include a regular assessment of Member States in a governance "policy coordination cycle", similar to the European Semester. The EESC should play an active role, as this will make for strong civil society involvement. The mechanism must be based on indicators, taking into account the indivisibility of fundamental economic, social and cultural rights and civil and political rights.
Download — EESC opinion: European control mechanism on the rule of law and fundamental rights (own-initiative opinion)
Fighting against tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning, both at the EU and at a global level, is an important political priority for the European Union. The EESC welcomes and endorses the Commission proposal, which aims to make the taxation system more transparent as this measure will boost public confidence. The EESC suggests that the Commission should aim for a more ambitious package. It proposes the disclosure of a wider range of data, the gradual reduction of the turnover threshold of EUR 750 Million and that the disclosed data is made publicly available in one of the official languages of the EU in order to achieve the objective of giving the public genuine access to data for the whole single market.
Download — EESC opinion: Proposal on public tax transparency (country-by-country reporting)
The EESC has played an important role in strengthening an informed civil society debate on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) through a number of TTIP-related opinions, adopted in 2014 and 2015, covering issues such as labour rights, investment protection, impact on SMEs, among others.
It is important under the present circumstances that the EESC, in order to maintain its position as a key civil society player in the TTIP debate, react to the textual proposals for TTIP negotiations on essential topics such as the sustainable development chapter, regulatory cooperation, investment and services. This will have the advantage not only of setting up the EESC position on major negotiating chapters but also of presenting concrete recommendations and pointing out the need to involve civil society in the implementation of those chapters.
Download — EESC opinion: The position of the EESC on specific key issues of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations (own-initiative opinion)
Download — EESC opinion: Building a coalition of civil society and subnational authorities to deliver commitments of the Paris Agreement (own-initiative opinion)
During the energy transition towards the low-emission economy, the EU energy system faces a period of profound technological, economic and social change that will affect many of the energy sectors, including the coal industry and hence the coal-mining regions of the EU.
Download — EESC opinion: Indigenous coal in the EU energy transition (own-initiative opinion)
Prof. DSc. Eng. Krzysztof Stanczyk, Coordinator of clean coal technology center, Central Mining Institute, Katowice: Research, Development and Innovation for cleaner use of coal
Jonas M. Helseth, Bellona: Environmental perspective / Contribution of coal and lignite to the EU’s energy security
Mr. Salvatore Cherchi, Member of the Board of SOTACARBO SpA, Societa Technologie Avanzate Carbone, Carbonia, Italy: Clean technologies for the future of the coal
Ph. D. Michal Wilczynski, Freelance Expert for NGOs in Poland, The Institute for Sustainable Development, Warsaw: Will coal and lignite reinforce energy security of Europe?
Europe is facing complex challenges calling for renewed social and economic models. To deliver progress, growth and wellbeing in Europe, a shift towards an innovation-based economy is needed. The EESC therefore calls on the European Commission to develop a policy framework to support these new business models emerging. The EESC calls on the Commission in the upcoming review of the Single Market strategy, due in 2017, to fully incorporate these new business models, and suggest new measures in this direction. It is crucial that Member States and the European Institutions fully recognise and promote "fairer" business models, which are centred on delivering innovation for social development by integrating social impact measurement in parallel to reporting economic progress.
Download — EESC opinion: Innovation as a driver of new business models (exploratory opinion requested by the Dutch presidency)
In this opinion the EESC regrets that the Commission does not make more specific proposals but simply lists various angles without taking a position on them, which makes it harder to have a well-structured debate. For the EESC, Copyright remains a fundamentally important way to protect and fairly pay authors and those involved in disseminating works and performances via interconnected digital networks.
Download — EESC opinion: Modernisation of copyright rules
