Comité Económico y Social Europeo
Citizens' needs and concerns were the focus of the debate on the digital revolution at the February plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), which reaffirmed that the "human in command" principle should always be endorsed.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) backs the Commission's initiative to create a European industrial, technology and research competence centre for cybersecurity and a network of national coordination centres. The objective is to help the Union develop cybersecurity technological and industrial capacities and increase the competitiveness of the Union's cybersecurity industry.
At the January meeting of the Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN), the members of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) discussed how to tap into the potential of "neurodiversity", which could also help people within these so-called cognitive minorities to integrate socially.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) fully supports the Commission's proposal on decommissioning nuclear facilities and managing radioactive waste. However, the Committee recommends adopting a more sustainable approach and closer monitoring of activities in sensitive areas such as the protection of workers from radiation. Involvement of civil society in the monitoring process is central. The social and economic consequences should also be assessed.
Clean energy is a top priority and fusion technologies could provide a long-term solution. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) emphasises the great potential of nuclear fusion for achieving clean energy and believes that the Commission should link the ITER project more closely to the European fusion research organised by the EUROfusion consortium.
The 2021-2025 Euratom research and training programme is hugely important, says the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), and budget allocated in the Commission proposal is proportionate to its objectives and should be maintained regardless of Brexit. Investing in education and training is a central factor in attracting young people to research and technology careers.
Safe and clean mobility is crucial for the future of Europe. At the high-level conference in Vienna on 15-16 November 2018, the EESC members took stock of the state of play of mobility in the EU and stressed once again how fundamental a strong commitment on this matter is for the future development of European transport policy.
The Digital Europe programme put together by the Commission takes a step in the right direction by recognising the key role played by digital skills, but it could be more closely tied to social realities. In its opinion drawn up by Norbert Kluge and Ulrich Samm and adopted at the October plenary session, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) backs the Commission proposal and points out that digitalisation in Europe must be made inclusive: the "digital dividend" must be equally distributed through appropriate policy measures.
The new Commission proposal must go further, taking all available forms of transport into account. It should focus on intermodality in freight and passenger transport. In the opinion drafted by Giulia Barbucci and adopted at its October plenary session, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) backs the Third Mobility Package presented by the Commission but advocates a more ambitious project not limited to road transport.
The MobileGest platform, created in conjunction with the Spanish government, allows to carry out any administrative procedure required by the Spanish administration in many fields through mobile and digital signature. It is a platform that allows clients to interact with the administrative manager in real time through the application. Today 70% of administrative procedures in Spain, about 26 million per year, are finalised through this platform.
