The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) was asked by the Commission to produce an opinion on the new plan. It aims to look at the plan from the civil society perspective and explore means of concrete inclusion of social partners and civil society organisations in its implementation.
Adopted on 25/04/2024 - Bureau decision date: 24/10/2023
In this opinion, the EESC underlines that is highly important for the EU Talent Pool to be a practical, reliable, easy to use tool that is attractive for workersandemployers and supports fair and ethical legal labour migration into the EU. It insists that skills and competences of workers from third countries should be assessed and swiftly validated to ensure that their skills are certified and they can obtain their qualifications when necessary.
Adopted on 25/04/2024 - Bureau decision date: 24/10/2023
In order to improve the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime in the EU, the EESC recommends that Member States provide their customs administrations and police forces with adequate human and technical resources, decent pay, working conditions and continued training. The opinion highlights that trade unions representing police and customs officials should be involved to better identify human resources and equipment needs. The EESC advocates better cross-border law enforcement coordination between police and customs authorities, and better cooperation between law enforcement and judicial authorities as well as fiscal authorities in order to combat organised crime as effectively as possible. The opinion also underlines that combating the abuse of drugs necessitates a differentiated, whole-of-society approach, remarking that drug use should be tackled more by means of preventive and accompanying measures and less through repression.
Adopted on 24/04/2024 - Bureau decision date: 13/02/2024
The proposal for a Directive to amend the Package Travel Directive aims to make the protection of travellers more effective, including in crisis situations.
EESC opinion on the Revision of the EU Package Travel Directive
The EU-UK Follow-up Committee (Committee) was set up in March 2021 for the purpose of maintaining and strengthening relations between EU and UK civil society organisations, as well as for pursuing any activities contributing to enhancing the relationship between the EU and the UK.
Adopted on 24/04/2024 - Bureau decision date: 25/04/2023
In this Opinion on the Defence of Democracy package, the EESC fully supports the transparency objectives of the proposed Directive on interest representation of third countries, but it also strongly disagrees with the proposed means. It therefore calls for a comprehensive EU-level approach that does not stigmatise interest representation service providers, does not shrink civic spaces in the EU, and does not undermine the credibility of the EU as an international actor. Concerning the Recommendation on elections, the EESC calls for harmonising the electoral process in all Member States to make it more inclusive and resilient, and fully accessible for all EU citizens with disabilities. Concerning the Recommendation on participation, the EESC calls for strengthening participative democracy, reforming the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), and setting up an EU-level framework for effective participation.
Adopted on 24/04/2024 - Bureau decision date: 21/03/2023
