The EESC's Transatlantic Relations Follow-up Committee met just days ahead of the high‑level EU-US summit, marking the importance of civil society's transatlantic dialogue. Amongst a wide range of subjects to work together on, the meeting put special emphasis on issues of climate change and trade.
Radicata nella Convenzione delle Nazioni Unite sui diritti delle persone con disabilità (CRPD), che è stata il primo trattato internazionale ad adottare un approccio alla disabilità basato sui diritti umani, la strategia dell'UE sulla disabilità per il prossimo decennio è un documento promettente con molte proposte lodevoli e solo alcune carenze. Tuttavia, affinché la strategia possa tener fede alla promessa di porre fine alla discriminazione nei confronti degli 87 milioni di persone con disabilità in Europa, per la sua attuazione saranno necessari una forte volontà politica e risorse adeguate.
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on Europe's labour markets, taking the heaviest toll on the lowest paid sectors and those involving a high level of human interaction. Whereas the possibility of working remotely and the government measures taken across Europe have managed to cushion the most severe blows by keeping people employed and businesses running, the EU and the Member States will have to take action to curb inequalities once the support policies are withdrawn
Solidarity à la carte, too strong a focus on border controls and too little emphasis on legal and labour migration pathways are among the main faults found in the New Migration Pact, with few tangible achievements in Member States’ negotiations on how to deliver a comprehensive policy that can successfully rise to the challenge of effectively managing migration to the EU
Dobbiamo arginare i crescenti divari tra le zone rurali e quelle urbane e coordinare meglio le politiche volte a colmare tali divari. La nuova PAC non sarà sufficiente, da sola, a riequilibrare queste aree interconnesse. Affinché l'Europa affronti realmente le disuguaglianze, dobbiamo predisporre una gamma più ampia di politiche e strumenti di finanziamento.
Equal pay for men and women or for work of equal value is one of the fundamental rights and principles of the EU, but on average women are still paid 14% less per hour than men, with pay differences present in all sectors and widening with age. Although welcomed as a much-needed step to close the gender pay gap, the Commission's proposal on pay transparency is receiving a mixed response, an EESC hearing found.
The EU has some of the strongest regulations in the world on the use of plant protection products (PPPs – pesticides) and other chemicals in agriculture. However, there is still room for improvement to achieve greater regulatory convergence to reduce the risks of using PPPs, and to guarantee a healthy and safe food supply for an ever-growing world population.
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) proposed by the European Commission to curtail the ever growing power of digital giants in Europe are fit for purpose, in the EESC's view, provided they go hand and hand with the taxation of tech companies, better working conditions for platform workers and data governance.
Having learnt from the shortcomings of the previous EU Roma frameworkover the past decade, the European Commission is determined to achieve the headline targets of the new Roma strategic framework, closing the gap of discrimination and socio-economic exclusion by at least half by 2030. However, the role of the Member States in delivering tangible results is pivotal. Without effective national strategies and pragmatic measures, the new framework risks failing in the same manner as its predecessor.
All across Europe, LGBTIQ individuals suffer from discrimination which affects their educational performance, job prospects, wellbeing and even the exercise of their fundamental rights, such as freedom of movement within the EU. To tackle this situation, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted an opinion at its April plenary session calling for non-discriminatory regulation of the concept of family at EU level.
