Addressing immediate and long-term challenges, properly implementing existing EU policies and strengthening EU values are some of the priorities proposed by civil society organisations for the new mandate, along with structured civil dialogue and a strong social agenda.
A properly structured civil dialogue can be a means of making European democracies more resilient to current societal challenges. Civil society organisations (CSOs) trust in the European Parliament to be the driving force when it comes to an agreement on structured civil dialogue between the Council of the European Union, the European Commission and the European Parliament, as a Parliament resolution proposed such an agreement in 2022. CSOs consider such an inter-institutional agreement a basis for developing more inclusive and qualitative policy-making.
During the inaugural session of the second half of the EESC's 2020-2025 term of office on 25 and 26 April, the EESC plenary appointed members of the Civil Society Organisations' Group to several leadership positions. Krzysztof Pater is the new Vice-President in charge of Budget at the European Economic and Social Committee. Ioannis Vardakastanis takes over the presidency of the Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO), while Baiba Miltoviča and Panagiotis Gkofas both remain in their positions as president of the Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN) and one of the Committee's Quaestors respectively.
EESC president Christa Schweng welcomes the result of the vote in the European Parliament to grant the European Economic and Social Committee budgetary discharge for 2019. The Committee takes all the recommendations very seriously and is committed to continuing the reforms.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted at its April plenary session a resolution on the Conference on the Future of Europe in which it calls on "a new narrative grounded on the realities of everyday life" to reconnect and engage with European citizens. For this, according to the resolution, it is essential to ensure that organised civil society is involved and plays a major role.
With billions of euros in the pipeline for recovery plans and little time to submit and review them, holding the authorities accountable for the management of funds will be pivotal in securing a recovery based on fundamental rights and the rule of law
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted a Resolution on its contribution to the European Commission's 2021 work programme at its July plenary session. The document welcomes the proposals made by the European Commission to overcome the COVID-19 crisis and sees the next year as an opportunity to restructure and improve the EU’s economy and society.
At its June plenary session the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) hosted a debate with Michel Barnier, Head of the EU Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom. Barnier informed of the state of play of Brexit negotiations and expressed his disappointment over the attitude of the British government which, in his opinion, was not respecting the Political Declaration signed in October 2019: "We expect the UK to respect its engagements", said Barnier.
A few days after the European Commission presented its proposal for a major recovery plan to face the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, on 2 June the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held a webinar to assess its suitability. All participants agreed on the importance of this ambitious initiative, an example of the solidarity and the political will of all EU Member States in times of uncertainty.
EU Council summit on February 20 was a double disappointment: no progress in defining a position to start negotiations with the parliament, and severe cuts proposed to the EU Budget, without any mention to EU's own resources.
