The EESC issues between 160 and 190 opinions and information reports a year.
It also organises several annual initiatives and events with a focus on civil society and citizens’ participation such as the Civil Society Prize, the Civil Society Days, the Your Europe, Your Say youth plenary and the ECI Day.
Here you can find news and information about the EESC'swork, including its social media accounts, the EESC Info newsletter, photo galleries and videos.
The EESC brings together representatives from all areas of organised civil society, who give their independent advice on EU policies and legislation. The EESC's326 Members are organised into three groups: Employers, Workers and Various Interests.
The EESC has six sections, specialising in concrete topics of relevance to the citizens of the European Union, ranging from social to economic affairs, energy, environment, external relations or the internal market.
Luca Jahier, President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), and Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament (EP), signed on 5 December a joint declaration in view of the European elections that will be held in May 2019.
In the European Year of Cultural Heritage, the EESC will be rewarding civil society projects that demonstrate the power of culture and common values to reunite Europe.
Making European consumer legislation fit for the digital age should not mean forfeiting the high level of protection granted to consumers in Europe, stressed consumers organisations at the Consumer Summit in Brussels on 28 November.(More)
For its 12th Civil Society Media Seminar on "Reasserting Europe's values", held in Athens from 22 to 23 November, the EESC featured 12 speakers – journalists and academics - from 12 different EU countries.
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 implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a joint responsibility of civil society, EU and the member States' authorities, as well as the private sector. This was one of the main conclusions of the high level conference on SDGs and initiatives for Sustainable Global Value Chains co-organised on 30 October 2018 by the Netherlands' Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Dutch Social and Economic Council, and the EESC. Experts also agreed that a combination of regulatory measures and incentives to voluntary initiatives is crucial to create a level-playing field and scale-up national initiatives.
Luca Jahier, the president of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), opened the high-level conference on Sustainable Development Goals and Initiatives for Sustainable Global Value Chains co-organised by the Netherlands' Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Dutch Social and Economic Council, and the EESC by stating that there is no alternative to a sustainable economy and that the EU is the champion of promoting civil society involvement in the implementation of sustainable development in trade: Without the EU in the lead, Sustainable Development in trade Agreements would not be the standard nowadays. He reminded that this process was initiated by the EESC asking for specific Sustainable Development provisions in the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement in 2008
He agrees with the EESC that more needs to be done in the areas of prevention and preparedness
In light of the dramatic impact of climate change, which affects the whole of Europe, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) urges the European institutions to adopt further joint measures and policies under the rescEU proposal in order to respond to disasters more efficiently and effectively.
At its October plenary session, the EESC adopted a package of three opinions on EU economic governance, providing European decision-makers with new input for the ongoing discussions on deepening Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the next European Semester exercise.
Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, attended the EESC plenary session on 17 October 2018, engaging in a debate with members on the main external threats and challenges for the EU. EESC President Luca Jahier, highlighted the important role played by the EU as a major humanitarian aid donor, but also recalled that civil society organisations are willing to be part of this effort.