Dear readers,

I am excited to be taking on this role as Vice-President of the EESC in this new mandate. I was delighted to be elected to the position by my colleagues. I feel the role of communication is essential in any organisation. 

I have always been impressed by the work carried out on a day-to-day basis by the staff and members of this Committee. A new mandate provides an opportunity to take stock and look at everything again with fresh eyes. Our limited ability to travel, due to COVID, is a further reason to grasp the opportunity to reassess.

I believe that the role of civil society in our political systems is an essential one. Here at the EESC we fulfill that function in an institutional sense. 

Our unique selling point is that we bring together all the sectors and groups that normally oppose each other in the field. We build consensus, through understanding and respect for each other's perspectives. And we produce valuable content that has already passed the test of whether or not it is implementable. Our proposals, rooted in consensus building, provide practical solutions to the challenges we face.

That is the EESC at its best: connecting stakeholders, making sure their voices are heard loud and clear, and producing practical solutions that are fair to all sectors.

A new mandate gives us the opportunity to do more of what we do well and to reduce or eliminate the things we do not.

The spirit of this Committee is to identify those who are ambitious to be effective and empower them to secure a significant impact with their work.

I am looking forward to reaching out to colleagues in other institutions to ensure that our collective views are heard. I likewise want to ensure that the wider community is also aware of how our work is received, and of what we do to ensure that the views of civil society have been taken on board when final decisions are reached.

Lastly, we will, as always, use our resources as a means to facilitate dialogue between other stakeholders, reaching beyond our members and really making that connection between civil society and the EU institutions. 

I look forward to a busy and productive two and a half years.

Cillian Lohan, Vice-President for Communication