The Committee considers it vital to develop practical proposals for action to ensure that the various EU institutions act, within their respective remits, to frame suitable measures for implementing Article 11(1) and (2) TEU.To this end, the EESC put forward a set or recommendation which, on the basis of a monitoring and rationalisation of existing processes, could facilitate a bigger structured implication of civil society organisations. The EESC should help to organise, along with all other relevant stakeholders and the EU institutions in particular, a large-scale annual event that would offer shared input to the agenda of EU priorities.
Download — EESC opinion: Articles 11(1) and 11(2) of the Lisbon Treaty
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Amendment to the Commission proposal COM(2011) 628 final/2 for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy
Download — EESC Opinion: Common agricultural policy / Financing, management and monitoring (category C)
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 2001/110/EC relating to honey
Download — EESC Opinion: Honey (amending Directive 2001/110/EC) (category C)
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain technical and control measures in the Skagerrak and amending Regulation (EC) No 850/98 and Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008
COM(2012) 471 final - 2012/0232 (COD)
Download — EESC Opinion: Technical and control measures in the Skagerrak (category C)
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1100/2007 establishing measures for the recovery of the stock of European eel
Download — EESC Opinion: Measures for the recovery of the stock of European eel (category C)
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 concerning the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms
Download — EESC Opinion: Conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms (category C)
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating the trade therein (recast)
Download — EESC Opinion: Protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating the trade therein (category C)
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 812/2004 laying down measures concerning incidental catches of cetaceans in fisheries and amending Regulation (EC) No 88/98
Download — EESC Opinion: Incidental catches of cetaceans in Fisheries (category C)
State aid modernisation is of strategic importance for the EU in a highly competitive globalised economy. The EESC shares in its opinion the Commission's vision but considers that this ambitious reform needs clarification in certain respects. The importance of this reform and of the EESC's opinion is illustrated by the fact that the rapporteur was invited to meet personally with the Commissioner Almunia.
Digital agenda in general is one of the tools to address the current crisis. E-procurement specifically brings modernisation, innovation and less market fragmentation. The EESC opinion gives in-depth analysis of the current state in the MS, puts forward concrete solutions and gives an objective judgement of the EC strategy for e-procurement.
The opinion is interesting to national and local public administrations and to the private sector as well.
With this opinion the EESC wants to highlight all forms of older peoples' participation in society. It recommends eliminating any barriers to their involvement and fostering their contribution. This means: increasing the offer of adapted learning for older people, namely on ICT, encouraging them to work until the retirement age and possibly beyond, provided that work environments and contractual arrangements meet their needs, valuing their role as volunteers, in particular as informal care givers, and recognising them as important consumers of goods and services.
Download — EESC opinion: Participation of older people in society
The findings of the study commissioned by the EESC and carried out in 27 Member States show that there is widespread frustration and distrust among the Roma community and civil society organisations. It seems that the National Roma Integration Strategies (NRIs) have not met the growing expectations of the Roma.
The instruments and resources available appear insufficient to compensate for the continuing negative impact of discrimination and exclusion. The EESC feels that a rights-based approach is needed and emphasises that organised civil society, including Roma organisations and lobbies, must be fully involved throughout the development of NRISs (planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation).
The EESC calls for greater relevance to be given to economic, social and cultural rights, in particular to the protection of labour standards enshrined in the ILO Conventions which it considers a key pillar to democracy development.
Download — Financing instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide
The Commission proposal for a directive on the enforcement of the directive on posting of workers is one of the proposals intended on the one hand to strengthen the rules on posting of workers and on the other to codify the existing legislation governing the right to take collective action in cross-border situations. The EESC welcomes the intention to enforce the existing directive, focusing on better implementation and effective administrative cooperation among Member States. The original Directive plays a key role in promoting a climate of fair competition between all service providers (including those from other Member States) by guaranteeing both a level playing-field and legal certainty for service providers, service recipients, and workers posted for the provision of services.
Due to the personal and societal impact of social networks and their future development and consequences, the EU institutions need to prioritise the adoption of binding and non-binding supranational measures leading to self-regulation or, preferably, co-regulation, in line with the Digital Agenda, to foster responsible and intelligent use within a dynamic Digital Single Market and to prevent the problems associated with its inherent risks. The EESC believes the ideal situation would be to have "model laws" on which to base international regulation. However, until this becomes possible, we need to find an EU-level solution.
