The forthcoming Presidency of the Council of the EU (Germany), aims to further discuss and analyze the policy objective 1 under the Common Provisions Regulation for cohesion policy that refers to '' a smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation''. In this context, the Presidency has asked the EESC to provide an opinion on how the structural measures and cohesion policy programmes can help in this process. The Presidency plans to present the key findings of this discussion in a High-level conference that will take place on 29th of September where also the opinion of EESC will be discussed.
Download — Tuairim ó CESE: The role of EU structural and cohesion policy in driving forward the transformation of the economy in an innovative and smart manner (Exploratory opinion at the request of the German presidency)
The forthcoming Presidency of the Council of the EU (Germany), aims to conclude together with the other EU Member States the new Territorial Agenda of the European Union (TAEU) together with the revision of the urban development policy based on the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities and also to update the steps for further developing of the Urban Agenda for the EU. In this context, the Presidency has asked from EESC to provide an opinion on both territorial and urban matters and thus to incorporate the points of view of the diverse interests the EESC represents in the discussions. The Presidency plans to adopt the renewed Territorial and Urban Agenda at the informal ministerial meeting for urban and territorial development on 30 November and 1 December 2020 in Leipzig.
Download — Tuairim ó CESE: Revision of the Territorial Agenda of the EU, the Leipzig Charter and the Urban Agenda for the EU (Exploratory opinion at the request of the German presidency)
Download — Tuairim ó CESE: Financial aid for Member States and countries still negotiating the terms of their accession to the EU which are seriously affected by a major public health emergency
This additional opinion complements and updates the proposals made in the yearly EESC AGS opinion. The EESC welcomes country-specific recommendations focus on investment and underlines that special attention must be paid to productive investments and investment in social infrastructure to prioritise sustainable growth. Next year's cycle should contain more CSRs to combat the existential threat of climate change. Investment would also be needed to enable the implementation of the social pillar to prevent an increase of social, economic, and environmental inequality. Taxation should favour this type of investment.
At the July plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), its president Christa Schweng and the newly elected president of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) Vasco Alves Cordeiro discussed renewed prospects for joint action and cooperation between the two committees.
This public hearing will bring together policymakers and civil society stakeholders to discuss on existing initiatives, the role that civil society should play, and what policy actions are necessary to untap their potential in this regard.
