Európai Gazdasági és Szociális Bizottság
While Europe and its societies are still in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic and with the Conference on the Future of Europe in its closing stages, the EESC will be holding its annual Civil Society Days in March 2022.
The event will take place both in Brussels and in Ljubljana in hybrid form. Registration for external participants will be open on this page until 25 November 2021.
Following the recommendations of the EESC own-initiative opinion on Youth Engagement on Climate and Sustainability, the EESC will host the second round table bringing youth climate activists and representatives of youth organisations together with high-level EU decision-makers to discuss EU policies on climate and sustainability.
GDP is the best-known measure of macro-economic activity. While it is used both by policy-makers around the world and in public debates, it was not designed to be a comprehensive measure of prosperity and well-being. Thus, other indicators are needed to assess and address the global challenges of the 21st century such as climate change, poverty, resource depletion and to promote health and a higher quality of life. Beyond GDP indicators should become instruments to not only monitor and measure, but also to inform policy development, improve communication and encourage target setting. Against this background, the Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO) of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is currently working on an own-initiative opinion on 'Beyond GDP measures for a successful recovery and a sustainable and resilient EU economy'.
This event aims to raise awareness among policymakers and other stakeholders of the important contribution of community/grassroots initiatives to global goals and to navigating social, environmental and economic changes in support of wider transformation.
As in previous years, the European Economic and Social Committee, as the body representing organized civil society at the EU, will be following the High Level Political Forum (HLPF), from Tuesday, 6 July, to Thursday, 15 July 2021. The HLPF is the United Nations central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.
On 13 July 2021, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) will hold a public side-event in the context of the United Nations' High Level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF), an annual space to review commitment and progress made on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which will be held from 6th to 15th July 2021 in New York.
This EU Green Week partner event aims to take stock of the implementation of sustainable development policy in the EU and the intake of SDGs.
The presentation of key findings and policy recommendations of the Europe Sustainable Development Report 2020 by the authors will be followed by a conversation with various stakeholders and a discussion with the NAT Section Members.
As Europe embarks on its ambitious green and digital transitions in a more unsettled and unpredictable world, it is essential that the right strategies and means to maintaining and improving the EU's competitiveness are duly reasoned and substantiated. De-carbonisation and digitalisation are two mutually reinforcing and intertwined processes that represent an unparalleled opportunity to move out of the fragility of the COVID-19 crisis and – strengthen the position of the EU in key strategic value chains while preserving the benefits of an open economy.
