The conference on the Geopolitics of the Green Deal, held by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) together with the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network(SDSN), highlighted the wide-ranging geopolitical implications of the Green Deal both for Europe and the world as a whole. The EESC is ready to play its part in this process, ensuring a clear civil society's ownership of the European Green Deal (EGD).
At its December plenary session, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the European Commission highlighted three top priorities to ensure a resilient and sustainable future for the European Union.
The 51st Western Balkans Follow-up Committee meeting, held on 3 December 2021, placed conflict resolution and normalisation of relations between Kosovo* and Serbia in the spotlight. The meeting, presided by Ionuţ Sibian, hosted prominent speakers from the ranks of EU officials, Western Balkans experts, as well as civil society representatives from the local communities, all of whom agreed that EU-facilitated dialogue was the only way to move forward.
With less than half of Europeans in possession of basic digital skills, the EU will need a skills revolution to enable a smooth transition to a digital and green economy and – more importantly – to ensure that no-one is left behind
In the 23rd hybrid meeting of the EU Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) under the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which was the first EU DAG meeting after the Civil Society Forum with the Korean counterparts, all participants underlined the importance of the ratification of three fundamental ILO conventions by the Republic of Korea in April 2021. This ratification by the Korean government sends an important message to the other countries of the Asian region, providing a strong incentive for them to ratify the ILO core conventions at an early stage of their engagement in FTA negotiations with the EU.
The EU and Member States must do more to promote the legal capacity of all persons with disabilities (PWD) to guarantee their fundamental rights. Governments must support autonomous decision-making and reject the regressive protocol to the Oviedo Convention
The pandemic has made it even more urgent to address the new challenges for health and safety at work. Enhanced social dialogue is required to guarantee better standards in teleworking and, more generally, in the digital environment
Through increased transatlantic dialogue, the Trade and Technology Council and the upcoming Summit for Democracy, the United States and the European Union have reached out to each other to jointly face global and internal challenges, and build a strong partnership on the basis of common democratic values.
The excessive mortality rates during this pandemic crisis have revealed structural and systemic problems in the nursing home care model. In addition, the rise in life expectancy and the consequent increase in the number of older persons in the years to come, point out the need to reform the care model. How to guarantee improved accessibility, affordability and quality of care, as well as an adequate number of care workers with improved working conditions, are among the key challenges identified during the EESC hearing "Towards a new care model for the elderly: learning from the Covid-19 pandemic".
