News

  • The situation in some Member States has led us to create a strategy for defending the Rule of Law, human rights and the concept of liberal democracy, said José Antonio Moreno Díaz, president of a new group on fundamental rights and the Rule of Law. Fact-finding missions to Poland, Hungary or Romania will be a starting point for the group, established by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) earlier this year and which held its first meeting on 11 June in Brussels.

  • The Section for External Relations of the European Economic and Social Committee  discuss how to involve civil society with the EU Member States when ratifying trade agreements

    The European Union is among the largest economic powers in the world, number one in exports of manufactured goods, services, agricultural products, ahead of both the United States and Brazil. However, in recent years, EU trade policy, notably via the increased prevalence of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs),  has become a real issue for debate for civil society at national level, given that trade agreements are promoters of growth and jobs but should also serve as a tool for reflecting and conveying high standards for social, environmental and consumer protection. In this regard the Section for External Relations (REX) of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) organised a hearing on consensus and transparency in trade agreements, which took place on 14 June in Brussels.

  • "It is not an easy task to deal with digitalisation in a way that all the layers of the society reap an equal benefit," underlined in his opening speech the President of the European Economic and Social Committee Luca Jahier. "Precisely therefore we, at the European Economic and Social Committee, promote the idea of ‘digital justice’ - we want that no-one is left behind from the digital revolution."

  • EESC discusses digitalisation and inequalities at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, held in Bonn from 11 to 13 June

  • The European Economic and Social Committee  is organising a Stakeholder Summit on Artificial Intelligence in cooperation with the European Commission. The event will bring together businesses, academia, workers, citizens, policy makers and NGOs to discuss the next steps to advance the EU strategy on AI.

  • President Luca Jahier and the enlarged presidency of the European Economic and Social Committee will be visiting Poland on 10-12 June for a meeting to launch the new EESC presidency. Mr Jahier and the members taking part chose Krakow in Poland as a symbolic place of memory and to galvanise and enrich the culture of dialogue within the European Union.

     

  • Young Roma are almost seven times more likely to leave school early than their non-Roma peers, EESC hearing reveals

    Despite a slight improvement in the share of early school leavers amongst the Roma, as many as 68% of Roma youth still complete only lower secondary school education at best, which greatly reduces their chances on the labour market and perpetuates the cycle of poverty experienced by most members of this ethnic group.

  • Participants in a hearing on sustainable finance, organised by the EESC on 5 June 2018 in Brussels, explain how to move forward in order to redirect capital flows towards more sustainable investment projects

  • This is a moment for social economy enterprises to demonstrate European values at a time when the EU is facing huge challenges, said Ariane Rodert, a member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), who opened the third European Day of Social Economy Enterprises (SEEs). The event, which took place on 4 June at the EESC's premises in Brussels, focused on how to scale up the social economy and showcased innovative social entrepreneurs. 

  • The advantages of sorting and recycling plastics must become tangible for European citizens, says the EESC