Coiste Eacnamaíoch agus Sóisialta na hEorpa
The 2022 prize will reward effective, innovative and creative initiatives which aim to create a better future for European youth and with European youth by tackling the specific needs of young people and contributing to their empowerment and participation in all spheres of economic and social life (category 1) or help civilians suffering as a result of the war in Ukraine (category 2).
As in previous years, the European Economic and Social Committee, as the body representing organised civil society in the EU, will be following the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, from Tuesday, 5 July, to Monday, 18 July 2022. The HLPF is the United Nations central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.
This conference will be co-organised by the European Economic and Social Committee and the Ministry of Economics of Latvia and it will bring together local, national and European actors to discuss the challenges and solutions of building sustainable and affordable housing. A special focus will be put on the role of civil society organisations and local authorities on the ground in achieving ownership, bottom-up participation in housing policies, proper information to the direct beneficiaries and financing facilitation.
Participants in the hearing will discuss how fundamental rights and the rule of law are interconnected and ineffective without each other. Speakers will offer an overview of key rule of law principles and what they mean for the daily lives of the European population. They will also discuss the various factors which are used to measure a country's performance in the area. Finally, they will evoke the current trends in Slovakia, in the Visegrad Group region, and in the European Union in general.
This hearing will be an in-person meeting (no online connection) in Bratislava, Slovakia. Places are limited – should you be interested in taking part, please contact EESC-rights-Rule-Law.
In order to examine and reaffirm the societal contribution of volunteers, on 7 July 2022, the Civil Society Organisations' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee will host a conference entitled Volunteers – citizens building the future of Europe, in Gdańsk, Poland. This conference is a part of a three-day mission to Gdańsk - the European Capital of Volunteering 2022.
The Section for External Relations of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is organising the Conference on relief and reconstruction of Ukraine and its European perspective on 19 July (9:30 to 17:00) in Kraków.
The Conference aims to discuss activities supporting people fleeing the war, look at the role of civil society and start discussions on how to better support the work of civil society organisations now and in the post-war future. The Conference will bring together around 200 participants, including civil society representatives, EU authorities and representatives of the Polish and Ukrainian governments.
The 2nd meeting of the All DAGs (Domestic Advisory Groups) which is taking place on 12 July starting at 10 a.m. in a Hybrid format at the EESC premises (room JDE52) is very timely as it follows the recent adoption of the European Commission Communication on TSD.
The meeting will look at the state of play and future of the Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs) under the EU Free Trade Agreements, as well as the important role of trade and sustainability in promoting fair and inclusive growth worldwide and resilient supply chains. DAG Members will have the opportunity to discuss the impact of DAGs, their successes, challenges and perspectives in a changing world.
571st plenary session, with the following guests and debates: Priorities of the Czech Presidency of the Council, Presentation of the priorities of the European Committee of the Regions, with Mr Vasco Alves Cordeiro, newly elected president of the CoR (tbc), "Gender equality and gender-based violence", with Ms Carlien Scheele, Director of the European Institute for Gender Equality (tbc). Web streaming
The objective of this online event - held in the context of the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) - is to take stock of EU progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15, in order to come up with a new set of proposals to reinvigorate the EU trajectory through strategic and cooperative approaches.
Over the last years, the EU founding values have been increasingly challenged, making the consensus on which they are based seem more fragile than ever. While the EU has addressed these threats by becoming more active in defence of democracy, fundamental rights, the rule of law, discourses have also risen portraying such action as political battles based on unclear or relative criteria.
Participants in the hearing will discuss how to address this phenomenon, and more generally how to better communicate fundamental rights and the rule of law to the whole population.
