Opinions with Civil Society Organisations - Group III members as rapporteur/co-rapporteur/rapporteur-general

  • Hyväksytyt on 14/02/2024 - Bureau decision date: 11/07/2023
    Viite
    SOC/782-EESC-2023
    Civil Society Organisations - GR III
    Italy
    Workers - GR II
    Belgium
    Plenary session number
    585
    -

    The EESC calls for a strategy for civil dialogue, resulting in an action plan, and potentially an interinstitutional agreement for improved civil dialogue. It advocates for making Article 11 TEU effective by strengthening actors in the different EU institutions dealing with civil dialogue and create an annual civil dialogue scoreboard tracing the EU's engagement with civil society, and an accreditation mechanism for CSOs. It reiterates that the EESC should be at the centre of civil society consultation and civil dialogue and calls for a stronger role for the Committee in participatory democracy, including being a potential hub for citizen panels.

    EESC opinion: Strengthening civil dialogue and participatory democracy in the EU: a path forward
  • Hyväksytyt on 14/02/2024 - Bureau decision date: 11/07/2023
    Viite
    SOC/781-EESC-2023
    Civil Society Organisations - GR III
    Poland
    Workers - GR II
    Spain
    Plenary session number
    585
    -

    In this opinion, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) highlights the challenges hindering efficient cross-border access to social security services, including bureaucratic complexity and uneven progress in digitalisation across Member States. While supportive of the European Commission's efforts to simplify processes and enhance digitalisation, the EESC emphasises the need for accelerated progress and urges developing comprehensive action plans considering diverse stakeholder needs. Recognising the overall need for digitalisation, the EESC stresses the importance of inclusive solutions for digitally excluded individuals as well as robust IT systems to ensure data protection and cybersecurity. Additionally, the EESC calls for the finalisation of the revision of Regulation 883/2004 to address obstacles to free movement more effectively.

    EESC opinion: Digitalisation in social security
  • Hyväksytyt on 14/02/2024 - Bureau decision date: 25/01/2023
    Viite
    CCMI/213-EESC-2023
    Civil Society Organisations - GR III
    Cyprus
    (Germany
    Plenary session number
    585
    -

    The European Union has close to 182 million hectares of forests covering 43% of its land area and these forest areas are one of Europe's most important renewable resources. EU forests are exceptionally diverse, with a large variety of forest types, characteristics and ownership structures. They provide multiple benefits for society and the economy whilst being a major source of biodiversity.

    EESC opinion: Towards a comprehensive strategy for the EU wood industry
  • Hyväksytyt on 17/01/2024 - Bureau decision date: 19/09/2023
    Viite
    INT/1046-EESC-2023-04411-00-00-AC-TRA
    Civil Society Organisations - GR III
    Italy
    Plenary session number
    584
    -

    The Commission is proposing new rules to create a legal form for European cross-border operations of non-profit associations, which will coexist with national non-profit associations. They will serve as a vehicle to facilitate the operations of associations with activities in more than one Member State. The new rules will eliminate legal and administrative obstacles, supporting the freedom of establishment, the free provision of services and goods, the freedom of capital and the mobility rights of non-profit associations. The proposal also encourages measures to ensure the interoperability of national registers with existing tools at EU level, such as the Single Digital Gateway, in order to allow automated access and exchange of data and/or use of agreed minimum standards to ensure comparability of data and the Internal Market Information System (IMI) to support administrative cooperation between competent authorities.

    EESC opinion: European cross-border associations
  • Hyväksytyt on 17/01/2024 - Bureau decision date: 13/07/2023
    Viite
    NAT/913-EESC-2023
    Civil Society Organisations - GR III
    Bulgaria
    Plenary session number
    584
    -

    EESC exploratory opinion NAT/913 - Towards the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post-2027: for an agricultural sector that meets economic, social and environmental needs

    EESC opinion: Promoting autonomous and sustainable food production: strategies for the Common Agricultural Policy post-2027
  • Hyväksytyt on 17/01/2024 - Bureau decision date: 11/07/2023
    Viite
    INT/1044-EESC-2023-04016-00-01-AC-TRA
    Civil Society Organisations - GR III
    Belgium
    Workers - GR II
    Belgium
    Plenary session number
    584
    -

    The Belgian presidency asked the EESC to provide an opinion on how to tackle poverty through social innovation and the development of the social economy. The fight against poverty and social exclusion must take into account the numerous dimensions of the concept of poverty that affect access to employment, education, healthcare, housing, food, mobility, digital tools, energy and culture, among other things. A cross-cutting approach to poverty is therefore essential in order to ensure social inclusion. Even though all economic actors are involved in the fight against poverty, it is up to the state to exercise its full responsibility in this area. The social economy contributes to this fight in an organic and cross-cutting way, through its diverse activities and social orientation.

    EESC opinion: Combatting poverty and social exclusion: harnessing the power of the social economy and socio-economic innovations
    EESC opinion
  • Hyväksytyt on 17/01/2024 - Bureau decision date: 11/07/2023
    Viite
    INT/1043-EESC-2023-03693-00-00-AC-TRA
    Employers - GR I
    Germany
    Civil Society Organisations - GR III
    Belgium
    Plenary session number
    584
    -

    The Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union asked the EESC to provide their insights on the rethinking of the internal market in light of the acceleration of the Union’s twin transitions towards a green and digital economy and on crafting a European Industrial Strategy that positions industries as the backbone of Europe's economy.

    EESC opinion: Developing a new European strategy for the Internal Market: helping our businesses to meet technological, social, environmental and competition challenges
  • Hyväksytyt on 17/01/2024 - Bureau decision date: 11/07/2023
    Viite
    INT/1041-EESC-2023-03705-00-00-AC-TRA
    Plenary session number
    584
    -

    EU rules on late payments have triggered a reduction in payment delays. However, still more than 60% of businesses in the EU are not paid on time and small and medium-sized enterprises are most affected. The initiative will provide relief to SMEs by revising existing EU payment rules based on available and upcoming evidence to promote a definitive shift towards a culture of “prompt payment".

    EESC opinion: Revision of the late payments Directive
  • Hyväksytyt on 17/01/2024 - Bureau decision date: 25/01/2023
    Viite
    INT/1023-EESC-2023-01711-00-00-AC-TRA
    Workers - GR II
    Spain
    Civil Society Organisations - GR III
    Romania
    Plenary session number
    584
    -

    Corruption and the lack of rule of law undermine the mutual trust that is underpinning the internal market. The EESC believes that efforts to fight corruption should be better aligned with efforts to safeguard and develop democracy in the EU. Moreover, the EESC stresses that the EU must prioritise evaluating the legislative framework on the integrity of public procurement and its implementation in practice and believes that the cross-debarment system could be useful for protecting the internal market from misuse of public resources allocated to tenders.

    EESC opinion: Corruption in public procurement and its impact on the internal market
  • Hyväksytyt on 13/12/2023 - Bureau decision date: 11/07/2023
    Viite
    SOC/780-EESC-2023
    Civil Society Organisations - GR III
    Lithuania
    Plenary session number
    583
    -

    The revision of the Victims' Rights Directive aims to ensure that victims' rights are ensured, easier to access and improved for all victims' of crimes throughout the Union. The EESC welcomes this proposal and supports the following: improving the individual assessment of victims' needs, paying particular attention to more vulnerable or marginalised groups; improving guidelines and training so that such assessments are done correctly; enhancing the victim's right to information and having the right to review a decision during court proceedings; strengthening compensation schemes for victims.

    EESC opinion: Revision of victims' rights directive