EESC info

The World Economic Forum's Jayant Narayan flagged up the figure in a debate on Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the European Economic and Social Committee's July plenary session, saying that to compete Europe needs to invest in medium- to long-term actions to create an ecosystem where AI can thrive.

The EESC's last plenary session before the summer break included a debate on Artificial Intelligence and real values: our digital future with Jayant Narayan, leader of the World Economic Forum's Global AI Alliance.

Focusing on the challenges facing SMEs looking to deploy AI, Jayant Narayan stressed that while new solutions were starting to emerge such as no-code AI, which allows companies and individuals to work on AI solutions without having fully trained data scientists on their payrolls, this was no silver bullet. There also needed to be a medium- to long-term focus on empowering SMEs to develop the necessary local, in-house capacity to deploy AI. That was where essential aspects such as skills came into play, which, in the case of AI and data science, could not be developed overnight. Funding and support for innovation played a key role in this process.

When asked why Europe was lagging behind the US and China, Mr Narayan said that while there were multiple reasons for this, government support and funding had played a major role, from the emergence of Silicon Valley to the bipartisan approval of the recent Innovation and Competition Act, entailing a USD 250 billion spend on technology and innovation.

"That funding creates the kind of market where most of your top researchers and data scientists will end up as well. And this is not a short-term solution, but more of a medium- to long-term view of creating an ecosystem where you don't just generate local value, but you also lead in it". He quoted recent studies showing that Europe was home to 18% of the world's top tier AI scientists, only 10% actually work in Europe.

Mr Narayan also addressed the question of AI and civil society and whether AI development was truly for all or was rather serving the interests of certain groups.

Quoting studies which show that between 30 and 40% of Amazon's recent revenue came though AI-driven recommendations to consumers, Mr Narayan stressed that AI is indeed very pervasive, and that this was why robustness, explainability, trust and transparency were so essential. Progress was being made on explainability and safety, but through cutting edge solutions which not everyone could be expected to have access to.

While there was no lack of principles "out there", he said the biggest concern was whether they were truly being put into practice and civil society's interests safeguarded. He predicted that progress in implementation would come from a mixture of public sector regulation and industry frameworks. Through dialogue between industry and regulators things would evolve, possibly reaching a point where industry would start taking action even on a voluntary basis. (dm)

The EESC opinion on structured youth engagement on climate and sustainability in the EU decision-making process proposed the establishment of a Youth Climate and Sustainability Round Table, to be hosted by the EESC in conjunction with the European Commission, European Parliament and youth organisations.

The Commission welcomed the initiative as a useful tool to strengthen the EESC's consultative role and give the younger generation an opportunity to share its views on the European Green Deal. The first meeting, with 11 youth representatives, took place on 13 July 2021, attended by Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans.

"Thanks to you, the sense of urgency in our population is greater. We all have to work hard without expecting it to be for our own benefit, but rather for that of future generations. Some of you may think that we are not doing enough, but I promise I'm pushing as far as I can, and hopefully we can find some common ground to fight the good fight", emphasised Vice-President Timmermans.

During the meeting, the young representatives presented Mr Timmermans with a paper, initiated by Generation Climate Europe and the European Youth Forum, with specific proposals relating to the EU economic system, including the EU's management of natural resources and progress indicators.

Cillian Lohan, EESC Vice-President concluded: "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redress systemic inequalities and transition away from unsustainable practices. However, young people need support. The ecosystem of activism needs encouragement, nourishing, and real space in the EU policy arena. Spaces for dialogue are only valuable if they are followed by action. Let's do it!" (mr)

Economic prosperity, care for the environment and people's well-being can and must go hand in hand. This was the key message delivered by the EESC president, Christa Schweng, at the debate on A post-COVID economy that works for all - Towards a well-being economy? held at the EESC plenary session on 7 July 2021.

Ms Schweng argued that in future, we would clearly need to monitor and value broader aspects than those reflected in GDP: "Aspects such as our health, our nature, our education, our ability to innovate and our communities really matter," she said.

Referring to "combining the idea of prosperity with the possibility of social progress on a global scale", with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals as the foundation, Ms Schweng added: "The time has come for the EU to work on a comprehensive strategy: the EESC is ready to support the reflection on the foundations for a post-COVID economy that works for all and includes new indicators for economic performance and social progress that can provide a comprehensive picture of people's well-being."

Peter Schmidt, president of the Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment (NAT) and rapporteur for the EESC opinion on The sustainable economy we need, pointed out that a well-being economy was based on serving people and that the EU must take the opportunity afforded by the pandemic to reflect on our weaknesses and come up with proposals. (mp)

A well-functioning funding strategy is key when raising the money for the European Union's recovery on international capital markets. In its opinion, drawn up by Judith Vorbach and adopted at the July plenary session, the Committee stresses that the smooth implementation of NextGenerationEU requires sound and sustainable funding, along with solid risk management and low borrowing costs.

Speaking during the debate, Ms Vorbach said: "Borrowing under NextGenerationEU has to be done with democratic control, legitimacy and transparency. An effective funding strategy made up of stable and sustainable funding, solid risk management as well as high creditworthiness and low borrowing costs is in the public interest and especially in the interest of civil society, which ultimately bears the market risks".

According to the EESC, the European Commission's choice to strengthen its own competences and human resources in order to deal with the funding of NextGenerationEU comes as good news. Given the strong public interest in sound funding, it is important that the strategy is managed directly by the Commission and is not outsourced. The EESC calls for a gender balance when appointing staff to the task.

The Committee also calls for the establishment of an advisory board, on which the Commission, the European Parliament, the Council, social partners and organised civil society are represented. (mp)

The Commission's latest initiatives on children's rights call on European and national policy-makers to work towards the common good of all children growing up in the EU. The two initiatives are ambitious and bold in their approach to ensuring a life free from any discrimination for each and every child and have won the EESC's approval.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has given its backing to the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child and to the proposal for a Council Recommendation establishing the legally binding EU Child Guarantee. The EESC believes that implementing these initiatives would support efforts at EU and national level to promote children's well-being and reduce child poverty.

In the opinion on the European Child Guarantee, adopted at the plenary session in July, the EESC stressed that the fight against child poverty, discrimination, deprivation and social exclusion required a coordinated European and whole-society approach, ensuring that children's rights are mainstreamed into different policies and that these policies have empowering and long-lasting effects on children's health and well-being.

"The figure of one in four children in the EU growing up at risk of poverty is unacceptable. We need strong policies and legal frameworks to break the often intergenerational cycle of disadvantage and reverse this trend. We need to have an ambitious target that aims to lift all children out of poverty by 2030 and not just five million children, which is currently the poverty target under the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR)," stated the rapporteur for the opinion, Kinga Joó.

Children require attention from all layers of society. Consolidating their rights should be a priority for the EU. To this end, we need an inclusive, cross-cutting and intersectional strategy, a true policy based on equity, to ensure equal opportunities and inclusion for all children, regardless of their circumstances," said co-rapporteur Maria del Carmen Barrera Chamorro.

According to Eurostat data for 2019, 18 million children, or 22.2%, were growing up at risk of poverty and social exclusion in the EU. Digital and energy poverty are equally detrimental to children and should also be tackled within the Child Guarantee, according to the EESC. Some 5.4% of school-aged children in Europe live in households without a computer or an internet connection. Some 25% of Europeans live in energy-poor households, which also affects children's quality of life and health.

To lift European children out of poverty, the EESC recommended that all Member States allocate at least 5% of ESF+ funding for that purpose. According to the new regulation, only those Member States in which child poverty surpasses the EU average of 23.4% are required to earmark this percentage of their ESF+ financial resources to combat it. So far, this has been done by only 11 countries.(ll)

People should enjoy the local rate when using their mobile phones wherever they are in the EU, said the European Economic and Social Committee in an opinion recently adopted on a proposed overhaul of the EU roaming rules.

A single tariff zone, offering calls and data consumption at local rates to all people who have a phone subscription in Europe, with the same speed and access to infrastructure whichever country the call is made to or from: this, in the EESC's view, is the goal that the EU should pursue in regulating roaming services.

While welcoming the European Commission's proposed review of the roaming regulation and its goals as a positive step in the right direction, the EESC believes a bolder objective should be set.

"The idea behind the Commission's proposal is that roaming services should be provided under the same conditions as they are at home, without any restrictions on access. This is a good proposal," said Christophe Lefèvre, rapporteur for the EESC opinion adopted at the July plenary session. "However, we believe that we should go beyond conditions and ensure that people in Europe do not have to pay more for their mobile communications when they go abroad."

The EESC also stresses that it is not enough to stipulate that, when similar quality or speeds are available on another Member State's network, the domestic operator should not deliberately provide a lower quality roaming service. This means, for instance, that if a consumer has 4G connectivity at home, they should not have to use 3G while roaming if 4G is available in the country they travel to.

Part of the problem is poor local infrastructure, which is why the EU should also be ready to invest in infrastructure to fill existing gaps and ensure that there are no "white spots", i.e. regions that have inadequate broadband internet coverage, many of which are known to be located in rural areas and drive away potential residents and businesses.

In addition, the EESC insists on the need to require multiple alerts to be sent to consumers to protect them from bill shocks. When approaching the limits of their subscriptions, the operator should keep alerting the consumer whenever the volume set for the previous alert has been consumed again, particularly during the same call or data use session.

Finally, the EESC points to the issue of fair use as crucial. While all mobile communications contracts mention fair use in connection with roaming, the EESC regrets that the regulation fails to define it. With the COVID-19 pandemic people have come to rely hugely on online activities and fair use has taken on a whole new meaning. Think what that means for an Erasmus student attending a university abroad, following classes on Teams, Zoom or some other platform, argues the EESC. That uses up a lot of data, and they will quickly reach their monthly ceiling. Fairness would be for people in such a situation to have the same ceiling in the country they are visiting as they have in their home country. (dm)

The new trade strategy launched by the Commission brings principles of engagement to the table that will support the EU in achieving its domestic and external policy objectives. Alongside this, the modernisation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be the key to delivering for future generations.

"We need to have a clear approach, to be open and assertive, to improve stakeholders' engagement with trade policy because the narrative of international trade is changing," said Timo Vuori, rapporteur for the EESC opinion on the trade policy review.

It is time for Europe to put naivety aside and adopt a more assertive profile when defending EU values and trade commitments unilaterally. Where the WTO cannot act or fully deliver, the EU should be able to count on a wide range of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that reflect European principles and the international standards shared with leading and emerging economies in international trade.

As Christophe Quarez, co-rapporteur for the opinion, put it: "All of the work needs to be put in the context of multilateralism and reforming the WTO".

The EESC agrees that modernising the WTO is a top priority. The EU must therefore take the lead on ambitious WTO reforms by breaking taboos on social and climate aspects of trade.

Trade policy that delivers for people

The EESC welcomes the trade agenda, which responds to some of the stakeholder concerns. However, it lacks due consideration of how to improve the involvement of civil society.

The Committee underlines the need for continued cooperation with civil society at national and EU level, to ensure that trade policy adds value to our daily lives.

Civil society has to become an active partner in trade policy, from shaping to monitoring trade tools and agreements.

The EESC strongly supports the EU taking an active role in shaping global rules for more sustainable and fairer trade that would bring prosperity and security not only to business partners but also to countries and their people. (at)

This first meeting between the Argentinian Economic and Social Council (ESC) and the EESC, organised by the REX section, was led by Christa Schweng, EESC president, and Gustavo Beliz, president of the Argentinian ESC.

In his opening remarks, the president of the Argentinian ESC, Gustavo Beliz, summarised the newly established ESC's first one hundred days and said:

"In our council, we bring together people with very different views, including very different ideological views, very diverse life experiences and a wide range of social backgrounds. This diversity is the council's greatest asset. In these first one hundred days, we have shown great respect and have been very committed to our work. We would like to continue in the same vein with the EESC at our side, so we are very pleased to have this opportunity."

Christa Schweng, president of the EESC, congratulated Argentina for setting up an institution enabling civil society organisations to voice their opinions and put forward policy proposals. "We are delighted to know that Argentina has set up an economic and social council that will focus on key issues such as social inclusion, the environment and climate change, work, innovative democracy and food security. Argentina is a country with which we share a lot of values and interests, including understanding the importance of civil society participation."

More than 90 members from both parties, representing various sectors, attended the meeting and participated in a lively discussion covering a wide range of issues and strategies. The debate focused on the priorities for the post COVID-19 recovery, the EU's Green Deal, education and jobs of the future and on the impact of new technologies on the labour market.  

Both organisations emphasised the importance of councils for building consensus, finding solutions to social problems and ways to deal with such problems firmly rooted in participatory democracy. (at)

Building talent partnerships with countries of origin and transit is a key policy in addressing migration. Europe must shift the focus of migration policy's external dimension and make it part of a broader geopolitical and geo-economic agenda that will be given its rightful place among other policies.

"Today we are talking about how geopolitics touches upon migration. A big wave of migrants to Europe will be coming from Africa", underlined the president of the REX section Dimitris Dimitriadis at the meeting held in July 2021.

As of January 2020, an estimated 23 million out of the 447 million people living in the EU are third-country nationals, representing 5% of the European population.

While the new pact on migration and asylum is still advocating talent partnerships with the countries of origin, transit and destination, it seems that there are blockages preventing its effective implementation.

Jean-Louis De Brower from the European Affairs programme at the Egmont Institute commented that there is probably a lack of trust in and solidarity towards the new pact.

Estrella Gallan, representing the Spanish Commission for Refugees, also pointed out that the issues of migration and asylum fall on the shoulders of the entry countries and should be dealt with in a more proportionate manner, based on shared responsibility and solidarity.

Development policy in Africa can put a stop to illegal migration

A positive contribution to development in Africa, which is vulnerable to climate change, could bring social, political and economic stability.

In the words of MEP Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, 1st vice-chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Development, "Development policies are inextricably linked to migration".

Adding to that, Dr Chiyoge B. Sifa, from the International Co-operative Alliance Africa, underscored the importance of the ICA-EU partnership, which plays a significant role in discouraging young people from taking the Mediterranean routes. (at)

The new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change is a crucial step towards achieving climate neutrality and resilience by 2050. European civil society strongly supports the Commission's commitment to strengthening efforts on climate proofing, resilience building, prevention and preparedness.

In its opinion on the new strategy, adopted at the plenary session in July, the EESC stressed that adaptation, with equity at its core, is critical to protecting European citizens' lives and livelihoods, especially those of the most vulnerable, so that we leave no one behind.

The EESC therefore stresses the need for an equal emphasis on financing mitigation and adaptation, as well as specific adaptation guidelines, monitoring tools, benchmarks and indicators. Such tools will help provide transparency, and assess the progress of climate adaptation, while building local, national and regional capacity.

The bioeconomy and the transition to a circular economy are essential and concrete climate adaptation approaches as Europe recovers.

"The EU needs to further enable and emphasise the importance of innovation, investment and trade that enhance sustainable development. Climate adaptation and its costs must also be an integral part of the EU's industrial strategy", says Dimitris Dimitriadis, EESC rapporteur for this opinion.

In order for the Union to emerge as a global standard-setter in the field of sustainable finance, the Commission should keep the bar high and follow science-based and technology-neutrality principles, including in the EU Taxonomy. (mr)

Moving goods using a combination of water and land transportation will be easier in Europe as soon as problems affecting intermodality are solved. In the opinion drafted by Stefan Back and adopted at the July plenary session, the EESC notes that lack of interoperability and poor infrastructure have a major impact on the development of integrated freight transport, often leaving operators no choice other than to use road transport. This in turn has a negative knock-on effect on the environment.

Commenting on the adoption of the opinion, Mr Back pointed out that the EU needed a pragmatic, resource-efficient approach from a regulatory point of view: "We need to address the pending issues directly and solve them quickly. Multimodal transport and logistics must be efficient and sustainable, not more expensive, slower and less reliable than, in particular, unimodal road transport. A long-term viable solution cannot be built just by setting up a new dedicated regulatory framework or injecting new financial resources."

Currently, multimodal freight transport lacks efficiency and sustainability. Combining different modes of transport on water and land nowadays entails considerable expense due to transhipment and transaction costs, on top of disadvantages such as long delivery times, complexity, higher risk and less reliability. Given all of the above, multimodal transport is not at present very attractive. In order to play its full part in the transport system, multimodal transport must become competitive in its own right and achieve efficient and seamless flows at the same cost as unimodal transport. (mp)

The European Economic and Social Committee welcomes the proposed EU Action Plan on synergies between civil, defence and space industries. The action plan can enhance Europe's strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty, improve the public security and boost competitiveness, economic growth and employment. Therefore, the EESC calls for rapid, forceful and ambitious implementation of the 11 actions set out in a Plan.

The EESC has adopted an opinion on the EU action plan on synergies between civil, defence and space industries, giving its take on the European Commission's Action Plan, which is set to improve synergies between EU-funded instruments, while facilitating cross-fertilisation between the civil, defence and space industries.

One of the most important and longest lasting innovations in the automobile industry originated in the defence industry here in Europe. After working on ejector seats in fighter jets for a European aeronautics company, Nils Ivar Bohlin, a Swedish mechanical engineer, went on to design a new seat belt for a European car company. Inspired by the harness jet pilots used, the three-point seat belt became a global standard in the car industry and has saved more than one million lives since its introduction.

The EESC considers the Action Plan to be a pillar in the EU's industrial strategy, and this example illustrates how it can ensure cross-fertilisation between the civil, defence and space industries and can focus on improving the crucial link between space, defence and security.

''Among other things, one key priority should be the adoption of new digital and other emerging technologies in defence and security", said the rapporteur for the opinion, Manuel Garcia Salgado. "To facilitate this, it should be ensured that relevant civil initiatives take into account defence and security requirements from the outset; this will also help optimise the scope and efficiency of defence- and security-specific funding instruments."

Diversity is essential for innovation, including in the defence and space industries. The EESC therefore calls for greater inclusion of women and young people, through recruitment, staff retention and promotion policies.

"Europe today is a global leader in technology, but this leadership is increasingly being challenged by massive investment from the US and China in new digital and other emerging technologies such as AI, IoT, Blockchain, etc.", says co-rapporteur, Jan Pie. "This challenges Europe's competitiveness, but also its autonomy in strategic sectors like security or defence.''

''The topic is definitely an example of how to pursue healthy, non-aggressive technological sovereignty'', says Pietro de Lotto, president of the EESC's Consultative Commission on Industrial Change. (ks)