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.
Here you can find news and information about the EESC'swork, including its social media accounts, the EESC Info newsletter, photo galleries and videos.
The EESC brings together representatives from all areas of organised civil society, who give their independent advice on EU policies and legislation. The EESC's326 Members are organised into three groups: Employers, Workers and Various Interests.
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.
In a recently adopted opinion, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) welcomes the European Commission's proposal to amend the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) with the objective of better tackling money laundering and terrorist financing in the European banking and financial sector, but calls for more comprehensive measures. These issues are, in its view, becoming increasingly dangerous in terms of the stability, safety and reputation of financial institutions and the financial sector as a whole. Additional measures are therefore of the utmost importance.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) welcomes the European Commission's proposals regarding its Action Plan on VAT, which aim to modernise the EU Value Added Tax (VAT) system, at the same time calling for some modifications. It asks the Member States to do their utmost to implement the proposed reforms and move towards the definitive VAT system within a reasonable timeframe.
The reporting mechanism will contribute to more tax justice and fair competition in the EU
The European Commission must set out more precise hallmarks for the proposed reporting obligations on cross-border tax arrangements and transactions in order to prevent subjective interpretation by taxpayers and tax authorities which could lead to over-reporting and administrative burdens, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) urges in its recently adopted opinion on disincentives to tax avoidance or evasion.
On 7th February, as we mark the 25th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty, the European Economic and Social Committee turns to political leaders, the European civil society organisations which we represent, and all European citizens, with a call: the call for social and economic solidarity, which is urgently needed across Europe. 25 years ago, Europe was in turmoil: the aftermath of the Cold War; the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany; the path of Eastern European countries to democracy, all shaped the zeitgeist. Yet, on this momentous day in 1992, the 12 nations of the European Communities signed this European Treaty, thus creating the European Union as we know it and its greatest achievement, the single currency. Today, the geo-political landscape ...
There is no viable alternative to a more political Eurozone, focusing more on the big priorities that matter for its citizens than on specific numerical targets and technical issues. Once again, the EESC calls on the European political leaders to accelerate the process of deepening Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in order to ensure more convergence among the Member States and to make the EU as a whole more prosperous, competitive and resilient to external shocks, within a concept of shared sovereignty. These were among the main messages of the high-level debate on What future for the euro ...
Officious transposition of the EU law at the national level undermines Single Market, increases costs and hinders development. Numerous governments of Member States use transposition process as an opportunity to address domestic political issues which results with "goldplating". This unfavorable tendency has negative impact on business and should be avoided by all possible means. Good regulation, consistent and stable legal framework, both at the national and the European level is what business counts on - these are some of the conclusions of the conference "Transposition of the European law – the key challenge to business activity", that took place on 6 December 2016 in Zagreb, Croatia.
At its plenary meeting on 17 March 2016, the European Economic and Social Committee gave a clear message to the European Commission, calling on it to draw up conclusive proposals which go further in completing Europe's Economic and Monetary Union without delay. In a package of opinions, the Committee put forward the points of view of the social partners and civil society on the package of proposals for Deepening EMU which the Commission published at the end of last year.
The conference "The Anti-Money Laundering Legislative Package" will take stock of the state of play and debate in particular the legislative proposals tabled by the European Commission in July 2021 to strengthen the EU's anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing (AML/CFT) rules.
The conference is organised on 5 October 2021, starting at 14:30.
The event is accessible via webstream. No registration is needed, and participation is free of charge.
Both a sustainable economic and social recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and the need to address effectively the climate change will require a massive expansion of investments. To achieve this, reshaping the EU fiscal rules is indispensable. Against this background, the Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO) of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is currently working on an own-initiative opinion on Reshaping the EU Fiscal Framework for a Sustainable Recovery and a Just Transition.