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.
In the framework of this opinion a hearing (The processing and exploitation, for economic and environmental purposes, of the industrial and mining waste deposits from European Union) was organized in Cluj Napoca / Kolozsvár, in Romania, on 19 May 2011.
The processing and exploitation, for economic and environmental purposes of the industrial and mining waste deposits from European Union
The Rio 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development must send out a clear signal to the world community, with specific proposals for the transition to an economic order based on qualitative economic growth that helps to eliminate poverty and social injustice whilst preserving natural resources for future generations.
The EESC is convinced that ensuring access to resources, food and energy should be amongst the priorities of the global sustainability agenda.
Policy measures and clear indicators must be established to measure progress on the road to greater sustainability.
EESC Opinion: Contribution of European organised civil society to UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio (Rio+20)
The central message of this exploratory opinion is the need for a coordinated approach on renewable energies in the region, one that is based on co-development.
The Commission's communication sets out a strategy for the implementation of the charter in the new legal environment created by the Lisbon Treaty. The charter must serve as a compass for the Union's policies and their implementation by the Member States. The EESC finds that the Commission should strengthen the culture of fundamental rights at all government levels and across all policy and legislative domains level. It is as well urgent to establish a strategy for monitoring and for rapid reaction.
EESC opinion: Strategy for the effective implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights by the European Union
The EESC welcomes the Commission document COM(2011) 25 final Tackling the Challenges in Commodity Markets and on Raw Materials and The European raw materials' initiative (RMI) as an important step to tackle this vital issue.
EESC thus urges the EC to monitor the situation in international trade of critical raw materials (as listed in COM(2011) 25 final and with regular updating of this list). In addition, we endorse the need to continue in negotiation at the international level (WTO) to promote free trade also in commodity markets.
The EESC urges a more active foreign policy regarding security of raw materials for EU industry.
Tackling the challenges in commodity markets and on raw materials