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 EESC strongly believe that ensuring food security is not just about producing more food. Supplying diverse, nutritious and good quality foods, supporting smallholder farmers, sustaining soil and water resources and reducing food waste are objectives that should also be pursued.
The EESC aims to promote civil society's role in food security, for example through its opinions, its cooperation with the FAO, participating as observer in the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) or through UN International Year events.
The European Economic and Social Committee has been an ardent supporter of the Eastern Partnership from the very outset and the EESC's Employers' Group has continually emphasised the need to strengthen the partnership's economic dimension. An appropriate tool was needed to enable the representatives of employers, entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises from the EU and its partner countries to meet and openly assess the process of convergence with the European acquis and its impact on the economic situation.
With three quarters of EU citizens of the opinion that corruption is widespread in their own country and over 90% in ten Member States, the EESC is today calling for concrete action at the EU level to combat this Euro120 billion a year crime. Costing the European economy up to 1% of its GDP, the EESC has called on the European institutions and Member States to take concerted action to limit the impact of corruption on people and the economy. Improving transparency lies at the heart of the fight against corruption together with purposeful actions to raise public awareness.
The aim of this study by the Bertelsmann Stiftung is to review and examine the work of the Various Interests Group during the period of its current mandate (2010-2015) in the light of current challenges and the political agenda in the EU.
The new United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted on the UN world summit on 25 – 27 September, sets out an unprecedented broad action plan for people, planet and prosperity. An ambitious strategy and the installation of effective governance mechanisms will be key for a proper implementation of the SDGs in Europe.
Introduced on 1 April 2012 by the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Citizens' Initiative is the most important instrument of participative democracy in the European Union. By collecting at least 1 million signatures from at least 7 EU Member States, citizens have the right to call directly on the European Commission to propose a legal act or modify the existing one. This Guide is to provide you with an idea of how to get involved.
To remain competitive in a globalised economy, the European Union needs a coherent and comprehensive EU Aviation Strategy. In the view of the EESC, the starting point for such a strategy should be the fact that the economies of numerous countries outside the EU have grown, which has promoted aviation as a facilitator of such growth. An EU-wide aviation strategy should therefore be based upon three pillars.