Civil Society Organisations' Bulletin - January 2026

By Cillian LOHAN, President, EESC Civil Society Organisations’ Group

By Anastasis YIAPANIS, Member of the Civil Society Organisations’ Group, representing the Panagrotikos Farmers' Union of Cyprus, and

Panagiotis CHAMPAS, Member of the Civil Society Organisations’ Group, representing the Union of Cypriot Farmers (EKA)

By Amélie REBIÈRE, member of the EESC Civil Society Organisations' Group and representative of the French organisation Rural Affairs Coordination (CR)

By Giuseppe GUERINI, member of the EESC Civil Society Organisations’ Group and representative of the Confederation of Italian Cooperatives (Confcooperative) amongst others

By Joe HEALY, EESC rapporteur on the common agricultural policy post-2027, member of the Civil Society Organisations’ Group, and representative of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA)

By Klaus THÜRRIEDL, President of the European Council of the Liberal Professions (CEPLIS)

By Agustín REYNA, Director General of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC)

By Corina MURAFA, Member of the Civil Society Organisations’ Group and representative of the Romanian Energy Poverty Observatory (ORSE) of the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD), and 

Anca SINEA from the Babeș-Bolyai University and ORSE

We spoke with the rapporteur for the EESC opinion SOC/843, representing the Romanian Civil Society Development Foundation (FDSC)

At its plenary session on 3 December, the EESC held a debate on 'Cooperatives building a better world: the contribution of the EESC to the International Year of Cooperatives', with several guest speakers. Read the key messages of the members of the EESC Civil Society Organisations’ Group.

At its plenary session on 4 December, the EESC held a debate on 'Thirty COPs later and a decade after the Paris Agreement: assessing global climate action and opportunities for civil society', with Elisa Morgera, UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights, Ivone Kaizeler, Deputy Head of Multilateral Affairs Unit within the Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) of the EU Commission, and Samira Ben Ali, EESC Youth Delegate to COP. Read the key messages of the members of the EESC Civil Society Organisations’ Group.

At its plenary session on 3 December, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held a debate on the next multiannual financial framework, with Piotr Serafin, European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, Carla Tavares, Member of the European Parliament, and Professor Enrico Giovannini, former Italian Minister, currently Scientific Director of ASviS. Read the key messages of the members of the EESC Civil Society Organisations’ Group.

Professor Enrico Giovannini, former Italian Minister, currently Scientific Director of the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development ETS (ASviS), was invited to an EESC plenary debate on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034 at the initiative of the Committee's Civil Society Organisations' Group. The debate took place on 3 December 2025. Read his speech.