Comité Económico y Social Europeo
Securing sustainable access to raw materials, including metals, industrial minerals and construction raw materials, and particularly critical raw materials (CRM), is of huge importance to the European economy, where at least 30 million jobs depend on the availability of raw materials. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the importance of digital transformation.
Fostering competitiveness, innovation and job creation should be a priority in global regulatory cooperation through a renewed multilateral trading scheme, says the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in its opinion, initiated by Georgi Stoev and Thomas Student and adopted by the EESC plenary in July.
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At its June plenary session, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted an information report on the revision of the Machinery Directive. EESC members and the study group for the opinion welcomed the Commission's current efforts to improve the performance of Directive 2006/42/EC, which is a very important and successful instrument for European industry, while noting that radical changes to the directive would have a deeply negative impact and must be avoided.
EESC conference warns against fragmentation of the Single Market and calls for upskilling Europe's work force
An EESC conference on the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies discussed the most pertinent issues that will shape the medium to long-term future of Europe. It particularly looked at the future of manufacturing and service industries and the necessary changes in our society. Moreover, it reflected on strategic options for Europe moving forward.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) suggests that the EU should develop a certification for trustworthy AI applications, to be delivered by an independent body after testing the products for key requirements such as resilience, safety, and absence of prejudice, discrimination or bias. The proposal has been put forward in two recent EESC opinions assessing the European Commission's ethical guidelines on AI.
EESC calls for strong EU budget commitment matched by Member State and private investment
The EESC wants to see the roll-out of the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) speeded up and proposes a Commission-led initiative to raise the EUR 100 billion investment needed. It is calling on social partners and governments to ensure a smooth and socially just transition by anticipating the impact of automation and digitalisation, including on educational needs. Safety considerations must play a part in all planning and implementation.
Según el CESE, el sector manufacturero europeo solo podrá realizar una transición eficaz y competitiva hacia una economía digital de vanguardia y respetuosa con el medio ambiente cuando esté preparado para llevar a cabo considerables inversiones en innovación. Como principales creadoras y proveedoras de empleo, las pequeñas y medianas empresas precisan de un apoyo particular. Así pues, las medidas previstas por la Comisión Europea para facilitar un mejor desarrollo del sector manufacturero deberían basarse de modo sistemático en una verdadera concienciación acerca de las necesidades que presentan las empresas y, en especial, las pymes.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls on the Commission to reflect in more depth on policy options that help both to reduce greenhouse gases and thus fight climate change and to maintain competitiveness. The goal must be to better protect and promote the EU's resource and energy-intensive industries (REII), otherwise Europe runs the risk of losing jobs to less clean economies and missing its goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls on the Commission to reflect in more depth on policy options that help both to reduce greenhouse gases and thus fight climate change and to maintain competitiveness. The goal must be to better protect and promote the EU's resource and energy-intensive industries (REII), otherwise Europe runs the risk of losing jobs to less clean economies and missing its goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
EESC calls for better protection of workers in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD)
The creation of healthy and energy efficient homes and work places, as foreseen in the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), should be achieved by creating synergies with the removal of harmful substances during energy renovation, says the EESC in its opinion on Working with Asbestos in Energy Renovation, which it adopted at its May plenary.
