The main aim of this European Year must be active, participatory citizenship. The Year should encourage informed, active and inclusive citizen participation in the European integration process and in political and social life. The EESC advocates specifying the legal basis for the European Year and naming it the European Year of active and participatory citizenship.
Download — EESC opinion: European Year of Citizens (2013)
The Committee supports the Commission proposal to improve the regulation of rating agencies in order to further eradicate major shortcomings in transparency, independence, conflict of interest, and the quality of procedures used in making ratings. The dependence on these ratings should also be reduced, according to the Committee. Insider trading and market abuse damage confidence in the integrity of the markets, which is an essential prerequisite for a functional capital market. The EESC welcomes the fact that the Commission, with a new proposal, is responding to changing market conditions and is seeking to update the framework created by the market abuse directive.
Download — Insider dealing and market manipulation
The EESC agrees with the proposal's general and specific objectives, as well as its principles of good governance. The CFP must ensure that fishing and aquaculture activities create long-term sustainable environmental, economic and social conditions, contributing to the availability of food supplies, implementing the precautionary and ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management, aimed at exploitation of living marine biological resources that restores and maintains fish resources above levels which can produce the maximum sustainable yield, not later than 2015, all while meeting the requirements of EU environmental legislation. In order to achieve these objectives, the CFP must, in particular, eliminate unwanted catches of commercial stocks and gradually ensure that all catches of such stocks are landed.
Download — Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)
