The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is the voice of organised civil society in Europe.
Find out more about its role and structure at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/about
The EESC issues between 160 and 190 opinions and information reports a year.
It also organises several annual initiatives and events with a focus on civil society and citizens’ participation such as the Civil Society Prize, the Civil Society Days, the Your Europe, Your Say youth plenary and the ECI Day.
Find the latest EESC opinions and publications at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/opinions-information-reports/opinions and http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/publications-other-work/publications respectively.
The EESC is active in a wide range of areas, from social affairs to economy, energy and sustainability.
Learn more about our policy areas and policy highlights at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/policies
The EESC holds nine plenary sessions per year. It also organises many conferences, public hearings and high-level debates related to its work.
Find out more about our upcoming events at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/agenda/our-events/upcoming-events
Here you can find news and information about the EESC's work, including its social media accounts, the EESC Info newsletter, photo galleries and videos.
Read the latest EESC news http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/news and press releases http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/press-releases
The EESC brings together representatives from all areas of organised civil society, who give their independent advice on EU policies and legislation. The EESC's 350 Members are organised into three groups: Employers, Workers and Various Interests.
Find out more about our Members and groups at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/members-groups
The EESC has six sections, specialising in concrete topics of relevance to the citizens of the European Union, ranging from social to economic affairs, energy, environment, external relations or the internal market.
Find out more at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/sections-other-bodies
The directive on services in the Internal Market was designed to promote competitiveness, growth and employment in line with the Lisbon Strategy. It has, at the same time, triggered an intensive debate on the form to be taken by the freedom to provide services. The effects of the Directive on national labour markets, social conditions and consumer protection requirements remain a highly controversial issue.
In response to the Commission's request for civil society's contribution to the evaluation of the directive, the EESC has consulted CSOs in the Member States. The Committee's conclusions address the directive's transposition, scope, effectiveness and potential revision.
On the request of the Commission, this Information Report evaluates the perception and experience of EU civil society organisations (CSO) in the implementation of the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU). The information gathered and the interesting solutions proposed are the result of questionnaire responses, five fact-finding missions (Riga, Rome, Warsaw, Madrid, Brussels) and an Expert Hearing.
On the request of the Commission, this Information Report evaluates the perception and experience of EU civil society organisations (CSO) in the implementation of EU Consumer and Marketing Law. The information gathered and the interesting solutions proposed are the result of questionnaire responses, five fact-finding missions (Athens, Vilnius, Paris, Lisbon, Brussels) and an Expert Hearing.
Following a request from the Commission, the information report seeks to provide input for the Commission's interim evaluation of Horizon 2020 and, in addition, of its Science with and for Society (SwafS) sub-programme.
The EESC's recommendations are based on the views of civil society organisations gathered by EESC Members through an online questionnaire and a number of fact-finding missions.