European Economic and Social Committee
The RRF is still under negotiation, but according to the EU institutions the involvement of civil society will be fundamental both in the design and implementation phases of the national recovery and resilience plans.
Taking into account the disastrous social and economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the EESC has adopted two additional opinions on the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy and on the euro area economic policy.
Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires more than political commitment, says the European Economic and Social Committee. Increased investment, especially by the private sector, is needed to address current economic, social and environmental challenges. The Committee therefore advises the EU and its Member States to adjust their investment and tax policies to enhance growth prospects, and thereby private sector contributions, to accomplishing the SDGs.
The EESC draws forward-looking conclusions from the 2019 Semester and the Committee's civil society consultations in the Member States
Cooperation and partnership between governments and civil society will be crucial for completing ambitious reforms needed for the deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union. Taking into account economic, social and environmental aspects is equally important for strengthening the social role of the European semester, concluded a high-level panel of top EU officials and experts at the plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).
The European Union should grasp the opportunity of the new political mandate and financial period to improve its economic policy coordination and governance. The European Semester should become the most important element of economic policy coordination and a multi-level and multi-actor governance approach should be implemented, says the European Economic and Social Committee. It suggests that an EESC competence centre for exchange of information could be established to address implementation concerns in relation to a future EU strategy.
At its plenary session in July, the European Economic and Social Committee presented proposals for the economic agenda of the upcoming legislative period (2019-2024) and recommended that they should form the basis of a new European economic strategy. The Committee's proposals seek to develop more resilient and sustainable EU economic policies within an improved governance framework for the Economic and Monetary Union.
The European Economic and Social Committee has called on EU leaders in a recently adopted opinion to step up efforts to strengthen the international role of the euro, on the eve of the Euro Summit taking place on Friday, 21 June in Brussels. It underlines that this would be desirable, but also necessary, as a strong euro would contribute to the wellbeing of EU citizens and businesses, uphold common values and promote common interests.
According to the new study commissioned by the European Economic and Social Committee, cross-border services generate new jobs and economic growth. They are positive for all EU countries, for different kinds of jobs – both labour and knowledge intensive. The document proves that avoiding strict regulation in the cross-border services internal market is beneficial for the EU economy. A reduction of the share of cross-border services by 1 % would cost the EU economy around 8 billion euro.
