Rannóg um Fhostaíocht, Gnóthaí Sóisialta agus Saoránacht (SOC) - Related Events

In the context of the own-initiative opinion on Volunteers – Citizens building the future of Europe, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is organising a remote public hearing on Monday 20 September 2021. The aim of the hearing is to gather the points of view of social partners and other civil society organisations, experts and coordinators of projects related to volunteering, on the topic, and to hold a discussion on the impact of civil society trends for volunteering and the current state of play of volunteering at European level.

Since 1984, the European Parliament has called for a Statute for a European association. EU institutions are increasingly recognising the social, economic and civic impact of European association networks and national NGOs in the current difficult context with rising social tensions and polarisation. In addition, the EU institutions are also concerned about the shrinking civic space in Europe.

To feed into the opinion, a remote public hearing will gather the institutional and civil society views on the proposal and possibly collect ideas to make it stronger.

To prepare its own-initiative opinion "Emergency measures to support employment and income during the pandemic crisis", the EESC is organising a public hearing on 15 July 2021 am. to gather input from other EU institutions, national authorities, social partners, civil society and experts.

We will debate the following questions:

• What lessons can be drawn from the implementation of SURE and other emergency measures in recent months?
• To what extend are SURE and other emergency measures to support unemployment benefit schemes part of the RRP in the short and medium term and which groups have benefited from them?
• Are there any best practices to be shared and what challenges should be addressed?

In order to prepare its opinion on the Commission's proposal on the "EU Disability Strategy 2021-2030", the EESC is organising a public hearing on 1 June 2021, from 9.30 am to 1 pm.

The aim of the event is to gather input from other EU Institutions, organisations representing persons with disabilities, social partners and other civil society organisations on the Commission's proposal. This input will feed into the EESC's opinion.