In June, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held a hearing focusing on combating discrimination in the employment and recruitment of Roma, which revealed that the current strategies for fostering their inclusion in the labour market were largely failing.
A mandatory syllabus on European politics to increase knowledge of citizens before casting their ballots was the most voted proposal in the 2019 edition of Your Europe, Your Say (YEYS), the youth event organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on 21-22 March 2019. This initiative and three other selected proposals, focused on the use of new technologies and social media to increase participation in EU elections, will be sent to the European Parliament for their consideration.
The Diversity Europe Group recently organised a structured brainstorming session aiming at encouraging its Members to think out of the box and to come up with ideas to feed into proposals for the Sibiu Summit on the Future of Europe. This session kick-started our Group's contribution to the EESC Roadmap 'From Cracow to Sibiu and beyond'.
In order to bridge the skills gap, we must first identify precisely which skills are needed for the future. This remains difficult, due to the rapid pace of change we are seeing today. Adaptation of education systems, development of lifelong learning systems and close cooperation between employers, policy-makers and academics are some of the ways to help people adapt their skills to the demands of future labour markets. These were among the conclusions reached at the conference on Bridging the Skills Gap for Growth and Job Creation – the Business Perspective, which took place on 22 March 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Georges Dassis, participated on 12 April in the concluding session of the European Solidarity Corps Stakeholder Forum, alongside the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani...
Better scrutiny and management of food waste, an internationally agreed European history curriculum to combat nationalism, and better knowledge of the EU via the creation of a European day for schools. These were the main recommendations made to policy-makers by the students who took part in Your Europe, Your Say! (YEYS) to overcome the challenges the EU is facing.
You are our present and future, and Europe needs you: with these words, EESC Vice-President Gonçalo Lobo Xavier welcomed 99 young people to the yearly Your Europe, Your Say! event organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). The Vice-President encouraged them to use this "unique chance" to mingle with their European peers, apply their foreign language skills, learn about each other and make new friends that can change their lives and perceptions about this magnificent project called European Union.
