The Commission is proposing to the European Parliament and Council to sign up to a declaration of rights and principles that will guide the digital transformation in the EU. The declaration aims to give everyone a clear reference point about the kind of digital transformation Europe promotes and defends. It will also provide a guide for policy makers and companies when dealing with new technologies.
Download — ETSK:n lausunto: Digital Decade Principles
In 2021, the Belarusian regime led by Alyaksandr Lukashenka actively attracted migrants from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and other countries, encouraging and even forcing them to cross the UE borders. This resulted in a particular pressure on Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, and was done in retaliation against the sanctions adopted by the EU in response to the regime rigging the national elections in 2020 and violently repressing civil society in 2021.
Download — ETSK:n lausunto: Instrumentalisation of migrants
Download — ETSK:n lausunto: Management, conservation and control measures applicable in the Convention of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)
The ‘REFIT’ evaluation concluded that while the current Regulation was generally fit for purpose, it could be better aligned with the European Green Deal and its design could be slightly improved. In this context, the proposal aims to replace the ODS Regulation, while maintaining a strict level of control.
Download — ETSK:n lausunto: Revision of the ozone depleting substances regulation
The current F-gas Regulation 517/2014 intends to reduce the EU’s F-gas emissions by two-thirds by 2030 compared with 2014 levels. At EU level, F-gases currently account for 2.5 % of total greenhouse gas emissions. In line with the Climate Law, the new F-gas proposal will contribute to reducing emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and making Europe climate-neutral by 2050.
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This initiative wants to call on the European Commission to provide more integrated strategies for specific economic sectors, coordinating the various policies fields to an ongoing transition of our European economy. To this end, we have chosen the furniture sector to exemplify challenges and opportunities regarding the sector's recovery and green transition to a sustainable and circular economy (bio-economy), its technological transformation, mainly driven by the digitalisation of industrial processes, and the sector's overall target of managing the climate change.
Download — ETSK:n lausunto: The European furniture industry – Its recovery towards an innovative, green and circular economy
Health and social services such as care, helping disadvantaged individuals and those with disabilities to break back into the labour market, childcare and social housing are fundamental when it comes to guaranteeing social cohesion in the ongoing period of post-pandemic recovery, humanitarian crisis and international tensions. European rules on state aid for these services are therefore fundamental.
Download — ETSK:n lausunto: State Aid Rules Applicable to Health and Social Services SGEI in a Post Pandemic Scenario. Thoughts and Proposals on the Commission Evaluation to Amend the 2012 Legislative Package
The Communication on 8th Report presents the main changes in territorial disparities over the past decade and how policies have affected these disparities. It highlights the potential of the green and digital transitions as new drivers of EU growth, but argues that without appropriate policy action new economic, social and territorial disparities may appear. It also launches a reflection on how cohesion policy should evolve to respond to these challenges and in particular how to ensure that place-based, multilevel and partnership led approaches continue to improve cohesion, while building on synergies and mainstreaming cohesion objectives into other policies and instruments.
EESC will present its views on this report stressing the important role that civil society plays and that local policies need local strategies, drawn up with local partners.
Through this Opinion, the EESC supports the proposal by the European Commission to extend the list of EU crimes to all forms of hate crime and hate speech. It considers that the criteria set out in Article 83(1) of the TFEU for such an extension (significant developments in the area, a cross-border dimension, the need to act on a common basis) are met. The EESC therefore encourages the Council to adopt the proposed Decision in order to allow the European Commission to set minimum rules concerning the definition of criminal offences and penalties in this area of crime.
Download — ETSK:n lausunto: Initiative to extend the list of EU crimes to all forms of hate crime and hate speech
The EESC highly appreciates the first activation of the Temporary Protection Directive 2001/55/EC in the context of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. The current activation of the Directive could well be used to develop solidarity mechanisms among the Member States. It strongly supports an urgent need for effective, genuine, humane – and humanitarian – common European regulations on migration, asylum and security cooperation in an open, but equally secure Schengen area, in full accordance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The consequences of the war are also a threat for the European model of the social market economy as well as for the freedom and rights of EU citizens and other inhabitants. The EESC encourages preserving and valuing the Schengen area as it is currently constituted, to guarantee not only the free movement of human beings, but also the functioning of the Single Market.
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COVID-19 has shown how interconnected the world is. As part of global recovery, the EU wants to redesign how we connect the world to build forward better. The European model is about investing in both hard and soft infrastructure, in sustainable investments in digital, climate and energy, transport, health, education and research, as well as in an enabling environment guaranteeing a level-playing field.
The EESC welcomes the European Commission's decision to prolong the State aid Temporary Framework stemming from the pandemic. However, these measures are too exceptional for them to be extended to the general framework and therefore become permanent.
Download — ETSK:n lausunto: A competition policy fit for new challenges
