Exchange of views on the « Grand Départ – a great start for cleaner mobility» dedicated to high-level testimonials and debates on the theme of clean, competitive and connected mobility on the eve of the festivities of the «Grand Départ» of the Tour de France in Brussels.
The EESC believes that sustainable European systems of transport, energy and services of general interest are vital for addressing the global challenges in a modern, digitised and smart environment. The active participation and engagement of European Civil Society and citizens are crucial when assessing the challenges, consequences and impacts of digital transformation.
The objective of the hearing is to gather relevant views of experts and stakeholders that will help the EESC to know first-hand the objectives and concerns of Civil Society regarding the digital transformation and to formulate recommendations to the new European Commission and European Parliament for achieving shared goals.
The aim of the long-term strategy is to confirm Europe's commitment to lead in global climate action and to present a vision that can lead to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through a socially-fair transition in a cost-efficient manner. It underlines the opportunities that this transformation offers to European citizens and its economy, whilst identifying challenges ahead.
The EESC´s TEN Section, in cooperation with Austrian Federal Railways, is organising a high-level conference on Clean Mobility that will be held in Vienna during the Austrian Presidency on 15 (pm) and 16 November (am) 2018.
The objective of the conference is to stimulate an open dialogue between civil society organisations, experts, and senior-level representatives of EU institutions about the progress made, and to identify current and future challenges in European transport policy.
The rights and principles forming the European Pillar of Social Rights fall into three areas, one of which is social protection and inclusion, which is to say everything touching upon living conditions in our society.
The 20th and final principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights deals with "access to essential services". It establishes the right to essential services of good quality and gives a non-comprehensive list of those services most important to people's daily lives. The Member States continue to be responsible for identifying, organising, providing and funding these services at national, regional or local level. However, it is not enough simply to state that essential services – including services across borders – must be universally available; the notion of essential services and how they can be delivered must be clarified.
While the environmental benefits of the transition to low-carbon energy supply systems have been widely discussed, economic effects have only been touched upon in a piecemeal fashion, e.g. through employment in the renewable energy sector, the increasing cost competitiveness of energy from renewable sources, or the rise of energy poverty. In particular, it remains unclear how the economies of Europe's diverse regions are affected by the shift to decentralised, low-carbon energy supply. As recent political initiatives in relation to coal regions and islands however show, Europe's energy transition has a distinctively regional dimension. The EESC is currently working on an own-initiative opinion on "The effects of a new carbon-free, decentralised and digitalized energy supply structure on jobs and regional economies". In this opinion, it seeks to take stock of existing economic analyses on the regional effects and develop an assessment framework.
In November 2017, the European Commission proposed an amendment to the Gas Directive (2009/73/EC) to ensure that gas pipelines from and to third countries are subject to the common rules of the internal gas market. The aim of this extension of the Gas Directive is to increase competition between gas suppliers and to boost energy security in the Energy Union.
Given the increasing dependency on gas imports, this amendment raises a number of political and economic questions in particular concerning its implications for current and future investments, regulatory burden for national authorities, and the autonomy of Member States in conducting external energy policy.
The objective of the hearing is to gather relevant views of experts and stakeholders that will help the EESC shape a comprehensive view of civil society on the Commission's proposal.
In November 2017, the European Commission released its third report on the State of the Energy Union. The Commission’s overall assessment of progress towards achieving the goals of the Energy Union is positive but it recognises that much still needs to be done. In particular, it promises 2018 to be a Year of Engagement, ensuring that citizens and civil society are mobilised and take full ownership of Europe’s energy transition. The EESC has previously highlighted a number of challenges in realising the Commission's vision of putting the citizen at the heart of the Energy Union and the progress made in this respect.
This public hearing therefore pursues two overarching goals, namely to hear how civil society organisations and experts assess the State of the Energy Union and to explore opportunities to improve economic and political ownership of the Energy Union by citizens and civil society.
In line with the EESC opinion " Strengthening Europe's Cyber Resilience System " (TEN / 608) adopted in December 2016 and taking into account the growing importance of cybersecurity, the EESC is organizing a half-day conference on 09 January 2018, in Brussels.
The conference is the opportunity to evaluate the EU model of resilience, in the context of attacks targeting citizens, social systems and economic sectors in the Member States.
On 27 November 2017, EESC President Georges Dassis and Commissioner Violeta Bulc will officially launch the EU Platform for Change aimed at increasing female employment and equal opportunities in the transport sector. The Platform, as developed by the European Economic and Social Committee in cooperation with the European Commission, will enable stakeholders from all transport sectors to highlight their specific initiatives in favour of gender equality and to exchange good practices.
The launch conference will comprise a session where participants will be able to have a better understanding of the functioning of the Platform, while reflecting on key topics such as the setting-up of targets for female employment, the opportunities brought about by innovation, effective initiatives to fight gender-based violence in the workplace and the feasibility of more flexible shifts to increase work-life balance.
