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 proposed to make sure that the relevant European and national legislation is fully implemented and enforced so as to reduce precarious work and the prevalence of the associated mental health problems;
to adopt specific legislation on preventing psychosocial risks at EU level;
to combat identified work-related psychosocial risks at the source.
Persistent health inequalities are a huge factor behind the twofold higher mortality rate of people with disabilities, who on average die 10 to 20 years earlier than people without a disability. At the top of the list of barriers creating such inequalities are exorbitant treatment costs, inaccessible transport and health facilities, and stigma – but also a healthcare workforce that lacks proper training on disability issues.
The European Commission's proposal for a comprehensive European care strategy that should guarantee to all Europeans the possibility of receiving high quality healthcare and care service throughout their lifetime has been met with approval by the EESC
The technical limit value for asbestos exposure should ultimately be set at a lower level than the Commission is currently proposing in a recent Directive regulating the protection of workers from dangers of occupational asbestos exposure, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) said in an opinion adopted at its plenary session in December.
Europe's care sector will be barely capable of responding to the growing care demands of its ageing population. It is in dire need of major investments and a shift in policy-making, which should ensure that care workers are properly paid, have regulated working hours and receive adequate support. To achieve this, EU action will not be enough, and political will at national level will be crucial, an EESC hearing said.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls on the EU and Member States to implement more concrete measures to support the health, housing and financial needs of the growing number people taking on long-term caregiving responsibilities of a family member.
In an own-initiative opinion, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has called for the EU to adopt a comprehensive approach to providing more support and faster treatment for rare disease patients.
At the EESC plenary debate with Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, the EESC reiterated its unwavering support for a European Health Union. It urged the Commission to be ambitious in the implementation of the new European care strategy, which aims to ensure that each and every European has access to affordable and high-quality healthcare
Rare diseases may be rare but they still affect up to 36 million people in the EU. Despite advances in research and the exchange of good practices, Europe is still failing patients with rare diseases on many fronts
The European Union needs not only to improve the preparedness of its health system but also to address inequalities within the Union and globally. It needs to move quickly to assess the public health action taken to date