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.
The Energy Union is one of the ten priority work areas of the European Commission under the Presidency of Jean-Claude Juncker. The Energy Union strategy was launched in February 2015. The EESC has followed the Energy Union process closely. The Committee has produced as many as 22 opinions directly in response to the Energy Union initiative, ranging from general ones concerning the Energy Union construct to sectoral ones covering policy proposals in each of the five pillars.
The EESC organised debates with organised civil society in all Member States between 2 September and 2 November 2016. The debates were coordinated by three EESC members ('trios') from the country concerned, often in co-operation with the European Commission (15 debates) or the national Economic and Social Council (7 debates).
In recent years, REFIT and the institutional agreement on Better Regulation have focused on reducing regulatory burdens, increasing the number of impact analyses, and wide-ranging consultations. As a result, the legislative process has ground to a halt. Having mapped and quantified the EU acquis, the Commission is preparing to launch a targeted deregulation with the aim of reducing regulatory burdens.
Part of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the Consultative Commission on Industrial Change (known by its French acronym of CCMI) examines changes in industry across a wide range of sectors.
The "European Citizens' Initiative Helpdesk at the European Economic and Social Committee" is a compact brochure on the ECI-related serviced provided by the EESC.
The "Smart Cities" project is a follow-up to the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) own-initiative opinion on smart cities as a driver of a new European industrial policy, adopted in July 2015.