At this critical time for trade and sustainable development (TSD), the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held the first European Civil Society Forum on TSD. This was a platform bringing together civil society, academia, EU and international institutions to discuss innovative ideas and concrete recommendations on the future of the EU’s trade policy. A series of breakout sessions covered TSD topics from substantive rights to monitoring, enforcement and much more, inviting participants to voice their views as part of the ongoing review of the 15-point action plan on TSD and recent developments in EU partner countries.
The overall aim of this event will be to bring together EU policy makers to lay the groundwork for discussing a new policy framework for a sustainable economy for the wellbeing of society as driver for Europe's resilience and strategic autonomy, focusing on systemic change.
In response to increasing global demand for enhancing energy efficiency, reducing resource consumption and restoring our relationship with nature, the European Union is set to revamp its products policy by making sustainable products the norm. On 29 April 2022, the Section for Agriculture, Rural development and the Environment of the EESC is organising a public hearing to feed into the elaboration of the EESC opinion on the Sustainable products initiative, including Eco-design Directive.
The NAT section of the EESC will hold a public hearing on 26 April 2022 to engage stakeholders and civil society actors and discuss the engagement of young people towards achieving sustainable development. The conclusions of the hearing will feed into the preparation of the EESC information report on this topic.
An interview with Nicoletta MERLO, one of the youngest members of the EESC. She is National Head of Youth Policies for CISL, one of the largest Italian trade union confederations, and represents her confederation on the Italian National Youth Council. In 2017 she started a European experience in the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), which led her to be elected, in 2019, as a member of the Bureau of the ETUC Youth Committee. Since October 2020, she has been a member of the European Economic and Social Committee and actively participates in the SOC and NAT sections and in the Equality Group, seeking to be spokesperson for the demands and needs of young people and promoting the inclusion of a generational perspective in the Committee's discussions and multiple activities.
