Civil Society Organisations active on fundamental rights, the rule of law, and democracy are confronted with increasing difficulties, from regulatory challenges to financial constraints and concerted attacks on their work and credibility. At the hearing, the EESC intends to engage with CSOs and other relevant stakeholders to identify the main issues they face and propose ways of improving support. The hearing will feed into the opinion, which will have a particular focus on EU funding.
Events
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The permanent group on Inclusion of the Roma is organising a public hearing on 31 March 2023 on ''Relieving housing precarity amongst the Roma: evaluation and responses to the Roma housing situation''. The Roma are amongst the most deprived communities in Europe, some of them living in segregated areas and inadequate housing conditions. The hearing will look at the housing situation of the Roma population, focusing on its financing and on the problem of segregation. It will look at the objectives of the EU Roma strategic framework 2020-2030 in relation to housing, discussing recommendations and identifying best practices.
Your participation and input are most welcome!
The conference is open to the public and will take place in hybrid format: at the premises of the EESC in Brussels and online via videoconferencing platform Interactio. If you wish to take part, please register on this page by 26 March 2023.
As in previous years, the Bureau of the European Migration Forum has decided to organise a consultation with civil society on the topic of the next Forum. This consultation consists of a survey and a meeting on 30 March.
As part of its work on the exploratory opinion requested by the forthcoming Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU on Measures to fight stigma against HIV, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is holding a remote public hearing on 29 March 2023 from 10:00 to 13:00.
By means of a discussion with civil society organisations and socio-professional stakeholders, the event will examine possible measures to fight stigma against HIV and to help improve prevention and the quality of life of people with HIV.
Your participation and input are most welcome!
This years' meeting of the EESC's Western Balkans Follow-up Committee outside of Brussels will take place on 29 March 2023 in Pristina, Kosovo, and it will include a hearing with the local civil society organisations (CSOs).
The goal of the hearing is to listen to the views on the role of civil society in Kosovo as well as to hear their concerns, and to convey these messages to the political authorities of Kosovo and of the EU.
The following topics will be discussed at the hearing:
Every year, schools from all European Union Member States and candidate countries are invited to apply to take part and one school from each country is then selected at random. The selected schools each choose three pupils and one accompanying teacher to come to Brussels for two days, to work together, debate and draw up resolutions addressed to the EU institutions. All secondary schools in Europe can apply and this year, it could be your school!
The event is planned to take place in person at the EESC's headquarters, on 23 and 24 March 2023. The discussions will focus on youth and democracy, on how active citizenship fosters participatory democracy and the role of youth voices and initiatives in achieving this.
The EESC, as the voice of civil society, wants to ensure that the ideas of Europe's younger generation are heard.
Stay tuned for the launch of the event, expected later this month!
On Thursday, 23 March 2023, the NAT Section is organising a public expert event "What next for European action on childhood obesity?" to feed into the exploratory opinion requested by the upcoming Spanish Presidency to the Council of the European Union.
Web streaming - 577th Plenary session, with the following guests: Kadri Simson, Commissioner responsible for Energy; Marina Elvira Calderone, Minister of Labour and Social Policies of Italy, Ambassador Lachezara Stoeva, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council; Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, Daryna Onyshko, President of the European Democracy Youth Network, Brikena Xhomaqi, Co-chair of the EESC Liaison group with European civil society organisations and networks, Liina Carr, Confederal Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Ken Godfrey, Executive Director of the European Partners
The thematic debate of the Group will see the participation of Marina Elvira Calderone, Minister for Labour and Social Policies of Italy, Marie Toussaint, MEP and Vice-Chair of the European Parliament's Intergroup on "Fighting against poverty", and several representatives of civil society organisations.